Following this week’s decision by the Supreme Court upholding the final version of President Donald Trump’s travel ban, Brand USA has weighed in on the decision’s impact on the travel industry.
“While we believe the travel policy in and of itself will have little impact on overall visitation to the USA, it does make Brand USA’s role as the nation’s destination marketing organization even more important,” a spokesperson for Brand USA tells Travel Agent. “Our work is central to ensuring that people around the world understand the American people love to welcome international travelers and share with them the places and experiences they love. Travel decisions tend to transcend political debate and policy discussions and the reasons people want to visit the USA remain the same today as they have always been: Our destinations, our experiences, and our people.”
In the wake of the decision many travel industry organizations have called for an overt message of welcome for travelers to the United States, and some have warned that it could negatively impact the industry and the overall economy. The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and the U.S. Travel Association have both called for such messages, with ASTA also saying that it would examine the potential impact of the decision on its members.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has also warned that the ruling could hurt travel to the U.S., with its most recent survey showing that 23 percent of U.S. travel buyers have seen at least some level of reduction in their company’s travel due to the travel ban, with 37 percent expecting some level of reduction going forward due to the most recent ruling.
The Supreme Court has allowed full enforcement of the current version of the travel ban since December, when it issued an order allowing the policy to go through ahead of its hearing the case. This latest version of the travel ban is the third iteration of the policy, which was issued in late September. It applies to North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, dropping Sudan, which had been included in earlier versions of the order. Chad was also removed from the travel ban in April after officials in the Trump administration said it had “improved its identity-management and information sharing practices.”
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