Trump travel ban hits demand for outbound travel to Middle East
Thursday, 06 Mar, 2017
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Donald Trump’s on-off travel ban has hit outbound travel from the US, not just inbound, according to data released today.
According to ForwardKeys, which monitors future travel patterns by analyzing 16 million flight bookings each day, says US bookings for travel to the Middle East collapsed in the wake of the original travel ban.
Its data shows US bookings to the Middle East three weeks before the ban were up by 12% on last year but in the four weeks following the ban they were down 27%.
"It is interesting to note that the travel ban has not only impacted travel from the seven affected countries to the US, as one would expect; it has also affected travel in the opposite direction too," said CEO Olivier Jager.
"At this point, we do not know why exactly but we suspect that US citizens may be avoiding travel to Islamic countries, fearing that they will not be welcome or that Muslims based in the United States may be avoiding travel fearing re-entry problems or both. Nevertheless, whilst we cannot be sure of the cause, the effect, a 27% collapse in bookings to the Middle East, is substantial."
The same impact was felt on bookings to South Asia, which were 12% up before the ban but were 24% down afterwards.
ForwardKeys also found the controversial ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries had a much wider than expected impact.
Total international travel to the US fell by 6.5% following the executive order.
When the courts intervened the following week to suspend the ban, there was a short recovery but bookings slumped again when Trump promised a new ban.
Looking ahead at forward bookings for March-May, ForwardKeys also found a significant stall in bookings from the US to the Middle East and South Asia.
Forward bookings for total international arrivals in the US during the next three months are currently 0.4% behind where they were at the same time last year.
Jager added: "Donald Trump’s on-off travel ban has created a rollercoaster ride for the travel industry. Some passengers do not know where they stand as they await President Trump’s promised new order. It’s not at all clear when that will come. In the meantime, uncertainty reigns and the presidential rhetoric appears to be deterring visitors to the USA."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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