Under Trump, Bay Area tourism could see a decline, travel leaders say

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

President Trump’s America-first rhetoric may have endeared him to many voters, but it has concerned those in the travel industry who fear that increased restrictions on international travel and the lack of a welcome message from the White House may have a dampening effect on tourism in the Bay Area and beyond.

In fact, search traffic for booking travel to the U.S. from other countries has already taken a hit, according to Hopper, which analyzes billions of flights to help people find the best deals and times to buy.

“With the travel ban, we saw the day it was implemented that there was something like a 17 percent decline in people who were searching to the U.S.,” said Patrick Surry, chief data scientist for Hopper. “Each time, those travel restrictions were a dominant part of the news cycle.”

Hopper’s data shows that 103 of 122 countries showed a drop. China, which is one of the biggest sources of Bay Area tourism, is among the largest decreases, with searches to the U.S. down more than 40 percent. San Francisco International Airport is the most impacted airport, with flight searches from international origins to SFO dropping 45.6 percent following the travel ban announcement.

Changes.