Travel to US a little less popular: ‘cool country, but politics is terrible’

This article was last updated on April 16, 2025

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Travel to US a little less popular: ‘cool country, but politics is terrible’

Taking an American city trip or booking a long tour in America for the fall seems less attractive since Donald Trump is president. Various travel agencies say to the NOS a slight dip in the number of bookings to the US in the coming period. Hard evidence that one has to do with the other is not there. It stands out.

Last month Western Europeans flew much less to the US. According to figures In March last year, almost 1.1 million tourists from Western Europe went on holiday from the American Chamber of Commerce. That was just above 900,000 this year; A decrease of 17 percent.

The sharpest decrease can be seen in countries such as Denmark, Germany and Ireland. Tourism has decreased in March, except for two countries; Greece and the Netherlands.

The decrease can partly be explained because Easter fell in part in March last year. This year people are only free in April. And there has been a lot of global commotion since the appointment of President Trump in January.

Fewer city trips

De Jong Intra Vakanties mainly sees a decrease in city trips to, for example, New York. Travel organization TUI also sees a slight decrease in city trips to New York. These short journeys generally have less planning in advance. With longer journeys, such as road trips with a camper or car or cruise trips, TUI sees no decrease for the period until October.

“We cannot deny that there is a dip in the bookings. From the second half in January when Trump started with all his decrees, we saw a shock effect in the applications,” says Paul Backer, owner of Tioga Tours, which organizes tailor -made trips. “That shock reaction is not over yet. We will come to about 20 to 25 percent fewer bookings.”

Fenny Koppen, director of Riskja, sees a similar decline in the number of new bookings. She does expect that the season will still be made up for because the dollar has become less worth less. That means that you get more dollars when changing for your euros.

At Schiphol, the situation does at least part of the travelers to the US. For example, Marit, who is going to make a journey that has months of planning, takes into account possible problems with customs. “I have taken extra documents with which I want to send the signal: I don’t want to stay here.”

As a precaution, her travel companion Thomas has removed critical reports about Trump from his WhatsApp. Although he is looking forward to the holidays, he would not book another trip to America now. “It’s a cool country, but politics is now terrible.”

Fear of control

In the meantime, travel organizations come to travel organizations about border control in the US from travelers who will go on holiday soon. Recently there have been several reports about international tourists who are being made by the immigration service fixed. But the average traveler does not have to worry about that, says Natasja Eshuis of far-reaching travel specialist Travel Trend.

Despite the questions, the bookings for next year are still going well, says Backer of Tioga Toers.

According to Birgitte Bosma of travel organization Goamerika.nl and chairman of Visit USA, a non-profit organization that focuses on the promotion of tourism to the United States, nothing has changed by law. “It’s no different than usual. If you don’t have a criminal record and your visa is fine, then there is no reason not to go.” If you have a bad experience as a tourist, that is a bad promotion of the US, she says. “American companies have no interest in customers who are returned.”

Airlines

A decrease in the number of tourists can turn out to be poorly for the US economy. According to the American Chamber of Commerce, every forty international visits ensure one job in the country. Bosma: “The local businesses suffer below.”

This also applies to airlines that have routes to the US. The CEO of AirFrance-KLM, Ben Smith, says ‘a slight weakening’ to see at the Economy class on transatlantic flights. Society reduced That is why her rates to keep devices filled.

The American Delta sees in the first quarterly This year, an increased profit on that route, but warns of ‘broad economic uncertainty’. The planned growth in the number of seats this year is not continued.