Two-thirds (67%) of the more than 100 respondents said there had “definitely” been a downturn in bookings; a further fifth (21%) said they were unsure of the effect while 12% said their US business was unaffected.

One agent told TTG they began to see a slow down prior to last year’s US presidential election, while another said they would push ahead with promoting the US despite the strained geopolitical climate.

Among specialist tour operators, there were mixed messages, although there were signs from at least one that Canada was proving the beneficiary of any reluctance to travel to the US.

Premier Holidays product manager Jayne White said the operator had seen “a large upturn for Canada”, adding: "The US sold well in March and was significantly up, but April has so far seen a drop in demand. But this could turn around next week. I think it’s too early to say.” 
 
Jeremy Timms, managing director of Canada specialist Frontier Travel, which launched a US programme following the pandemic, said: “Strangely, it hasn’t yet had a noticeable effect – I took two US bookings just last week and one on Monday. No one has really said anything.”

However, he said at least one client was reluctant: “We had one client who was travelling to Canada – booked with us – and then on a self-booked tour to the US; they contacted us to say they were no longer travelling to the US due to Trump and could we help them with more in Canada. That’s about it so far.”

Timms said it was too early to assess long-term effects. “It’s maybe a generational thing, as my daughters have both categorically said they will not head to US while Trump is there. The clients we book are of a much older age and so may not be as put out with his views and actions.”

He added bookings for Canada were still coming in for this year, and for 2026 "earlier then ever before".

Industry veteran Guy Novik, founder and chief executive of USAirtours, said there had been no ill-effects, with US bookings up 11% year-on-year, but he steered away from direct reference to Trump, instead highlighting the economy.

"I would expect the current economic climate to have a more negative effect on transatlantic business travel, as the British are consistently resilient when it comes to booking their holidays” he said.

Novik believes there may even be benefits to come. “In the short-term, the introduction of tariffs will have little effect on the majority of UK customers and if the dollar continues to weaken, the price of US holidays will look more attractive.

"US-based customers do have a track record of not travelling internationally during times of uncertainty and that may cause transatlantic airfares to soften in the back half of this year.

"In my experience, customers only start to limit spending on holidays if they have concerns about job security, and at the moment, the UK has record employment numbers among those customers who would normally buy our holidays."

Agent Lisa Russell, who runs Wanderluxe by Lisa and specialises in Disney and Florida holidays, told TTG she hadn’t yet seen an impact on US bookings, but revealed she received a lot of negative comments on a Facebook post advertising a recent event for Disney first-timers.

"Some of the comments are unrepeatable," she said, adding the majority either insulted Trump or were from people telling others not to go to the US. As a result, Russell didn’t push the event as much as she usually would.

However, she said she was buoyed by the feedback from the handful who did attend and showed no signs of being put off travelling to the US. Russell revealed she plans to host another two US-focused events this year, one following Brand USA’s MegaFam in May and another later this year that would be Florida-focused.

Westoe Travel, meanwhile, which does a strong line in US, Alaska and Canada business, told TTG only one client had so asked about cancellation charges with regards to a US trip, but had decided to go ahead with their Alaska cruise next month.

By contrast, Savannah Travel director Kerry Lakey said she had noticed a downturn. "Even before the election, we started seeing people hanging fire for the US as they wanted to see what was going to happen,” she said. “And it hasn’t got any better at the moment."