MARK LENNIHAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE
The lower Manhattan skyline, including One World Trade Center. Some experts say President Trump’s travel ban could be as damaging to US tourism as the Sept. 11 attacks.
Trump’s order brought with it a swift decline in the number of worldwide tourists and travelers looking to visit the United Online booking websites reported that flight searches from international points of origin to the United States were down anywhere from 6 percent to 17 percent since Trump signed the executive order on Jan. 27. But experts say what’s more alarming is the icy message it sends to the world.
“The US is in danger of taking the same path it took after Sept. 11, which led to a decade of economic stagnation in the travel and tourism sector,” said David Scowsill, president and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council. “Strict visa policies and inward-looking sentiment led to a $600 billion loss in tourism revenues in the decade post 9/11.”