Almost one third of Britons have been put off holidaying in the US due to the controversial statements and actions of new president Donald Trump, writes Neal Baldwin.
Research by Cheapflights has revealed that 29% of holidaymakers say they are now less likely to consider the US, with only 7% saying they are more likely to head to the country.
Such a decline in business from the UK would potentially cost the US economy more than $1.5 billion in lost revenue, the metasearch firm claims.
The poll, conducted this month with 2,000 consumers, follows an apparent “Trump slump”, which has been reflected in searches for flights to the US from the UK.
Searches for UK-US flights have seen an average weekly fall of 13% since Trump entered the Oval Office and are currently 10% down on this time last year.
Alternative destinations are seeing the reverse, with demand for Thailand up 27%, Mexico up 22%, the Caribbean up 12% and Canada up 6%.
“A month into the new presidency and fears of the so-called Trump slump seem to taking substance,” said Andrew Shelton, managing director of Cheapflights.
“Our poll asked directly if people were more or less likely to travel to the US since Trump took the oath of office.
“Their responses show that a significant number of Brits have been spooked by what they see happening over the pond, and are beginning to vote with their clicks as they explore alternative options for travel in 2017.
"At the height of the travel ban furore earlier this month, searches dropped almost 20% week-on-week – against an overall increase of demand to our sites and apps of 19% compared to this time last year.
“With UK travellers contributing nearly $5 billion a year to the US economy, tourism chiefs in the country should take note of what could be a substantial reduction in support for a major industry there.
“America’s loss is another country’s gain, however, as our search stats and research show.
“A range of alternative destinations appear to be mopping up the demand that the US is potentially leaking, with Canada topping the list of holiday hot spots that have become more appealing to British travellers than the US since Trump entered the White House, followed by he Caribbean, Mexico and Thailand.”
Cheapflights’ statistics show that people from Newcastle are the most turned-off by Trump, with a 32% dip in flight searches from the city since Trump’s inauguration.
Similarly, searches from Aberdeen, Belfast, Glasgow and Birmingham were down 27%, 26%, 22% and 22% respectively.
Demand for travel to the US from London was down just 6%.