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Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Visitor numbers to the US from Western Europe fell 1 per cent year-on-year in February, according to preliminary data from the US National Travel and Tourism Office, after rising 14 per cent in the same period last year. — Reuters pic
LONDON, March 24 — Danish traveller Kennet Brask loved his fishing trip to Florida two years ago and was planning to return this year. But after watching US President Donald Trump’s explosive meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the White House, he called it off.
“When I saw this meeting, I told myself, ‘I’m never going to go to the United States as long as Mr. Trump is the President there,’” Brask told Reuters, adding that Trump was “so rude” and didn’t behave like a grown-up.
Instead, he will head to Mexico.
Brask is one of a number of Danes, Germans and more broadly Europeans who are reconsidering travel plans as a result of Trump’s actions, according to five travel agents across the continent.
In just two months, the president has upended the US’s longstanding alliance with Europe, suggested annexing Greenland, launched a global trade war, and issued orders that focus on stricter border policy, tighter visa vetting procedures and a crackdown on undocumented migrants in the United States.
Europeans splashed US$155 billion (RM687 billion) on travel to the United States in 2023, according to EU figures, while transatlantic travel has bolstered earnings for airlines such as British Airways over recent quarters.
Visitor numbers to the US from Western Europe fell 1 per cent year-on-year in February, according to preliminary data from the US National Travel and Tourism Office, after rising 14 per cent in the same period last year. This was led by a 26 per cent decline in travellers from Slovenia, followed by Switzerland and Belgium.
Trump’s rhetoric on Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, has been a particularly sensitive issue for Danes. One Dane, Kim Kugel Sorenson, told Reuters he cancelled a trip to California for a family friend’s wedding and removed stars and stripes from a tattoo so as not to appear to be pro-American.
US arrivals from Denmark fell 6 per cent in February after increasing 7 per cent a year ago, according to NTTO data.
European travel agents and travel data firms told Reuters they were also seeing a drop in searches for trips to the US, leading them to focus advertising on other destinations.
“We have taken an active decision to not spend a dime on marketing for any tours to the USA due to both the lack of client response and the current situation and attitude towards Denmark and Greenland in particular,” Steen Albrechtsen, a senior product manager at Albatros Travel in Copenhagen, said.
Overseas visitors spend seven to eight times more than domestic US travellers, according to the US Travel Association.
The stronger dollar, which rose ahead of Trump’s inauguration but has since fallen back, and sluggish European economy may also deter some from US trips, though travel agents said political tumult was having the most impact.
The number of internet searches for flights to the US has fallen sharply this month in France, Italy, and Spain, said Mirko Lalli, CEO of the Data Appeal Company, a tourism data provider. Demand from Britain, however, remains robust, he added.
Getting closer to Canada
Germans in particular are shifting their sights to Canada as an alternative, German travel agency America Unlimited said.
With Trump’s threats of turning Canada into a 51st state, some Europeans see a holiday there as a sign of solidarity.
“Canada is experiencing an unprecedented boom,” said America Unlimited CEO Timo Kohlenberg.
In turn, Canadians may flock to Europe this summer as they shun travel to the United States.
European vacation rental properties have seen a 32 per cent jump in bookings from June to August year-over-year from Canadians, according to Key Data, a short-term rental analytics company.
Other travel companies, like Europe’s largest tour operator TUI, still expect the US market to hold up, particularly for city trips and camper tours.
“We are expecting more travellers from Germany vacationing in the US than in 2024,” a TUI spokesperson told Reuters.
In February, German visits to the US fell 9 per cent year-over-year after increasing 18 per cent in the same period a year ago, according to the NTTO.
Britain and Germany have updated their advice for citizens travelling to the US to emphasise the country’s entry rules. Germany’s foreign ministry said it was monitoring whether there had been a change in US immigration policy after three nationals were detained.
Maria del Carmen Ramos, immigration attorney and partner at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, said people arriving at the US border were receiving greater scrutiny, but border patrol agents had more discretion and authority than people realised.
“It seems like it’s the Wild West at the border and there’s no rhyme or reason as to how things are being done,” she said. — Reuters
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