Cheapflights reports drop in US searches
Searches for flights to the US dropped 15% in the first week of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US President, according to Cheapflights.
Managing director Andrew Shelton said: "On the face of it, our data suggests Brits are voicing their disapproval of the President with their clicks.
"Since Trump took office, we’ve seen a 15% drop in searches for travel to the US – and both the confusion over the weekend’s announcements about travel restrictions, and media coverage of the reaction, could stoke that uncertainty further.
"It’s too early to point to a ‘Trump Slump’ – we know it takes a lot to knock Brits off their desire to travel – but they are fickle.
"If this trend continues then the US tourism authorities shouldn’t necessarily presume Brits will be thinking ‘America First’ when it comes to their holiday plans this year with quite the same certainty as they have in the past."
The Cheapflights statistics were revealed as protests against Trump’s travel ban escalated across the US, with thousands converging at airports.
International gateways including New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas Fort Worth and Minneapolis saw a second day of protests as the global backlash against the bans grew ever stronger.
Trump’s executive order bans travelers from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen for an initial 90 days and all applications for refugee status for 120 days.
Airlines complained they were given very little time to comply with the new rules, offering last minute refunds and ticket waivers for affected travellers.
Gulf carrier Emirates was forced to make late changes to flight crew rosters.
An Emirates statement said it had made ‘necessary adjustments to our crewing, to comply with the latest requirements’.
Media reports estimated up to 300 people were left in limbo or detained en route to the US but there could be many more.
Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said: "We just simply don’t know how many people there are and where they are."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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