Demand for international flights to the U.S. has slumped amid moves by President Donald Trump to bar some foreigners, travel consultant ForwardKeys said today, hours before the U.S. government rekindled efforts to tighten restrictions.
The Wall Street Journal reports that international travel to the U.S. retreated 6.5% overall in the eight days after the Trump administration’s initial travel ban on individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries was issued Jan. 27.
“It is interesting to note that the travel ban has not only impacted travel from the seven affected countries to the U.S.A., as one would expect; it has also affected travel in the opposite direction,” ForwardKeys Chief Executive Olivier Jager says. Bookings to the Middle East from the U.S. collapsed 27%.
Key elements of the original executive order were put on hold last month by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. After U.S. courts originally intervened, bookings started to recover.
However, ForwardKeys says that after plans for a new ban were announced, bookings reversed again. In the nine days after the White House signaled it would issue a new travel ban, bookings have been running around 4% behind last year’s level. Trump signed the order today.
The Wall Street Journal has the full story. A subscription may be required.
