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US travel in the age of President Trump: How visiting the United States will be affected by the election result

What will travel be like under the new Republican president? 

Simon Calder
Travel Correspondent
Wednesday 09 November 2016 03:18 EST
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Simon Calder explains the travel consequences of a Trump victory

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Mr Trump will be the first travel-industry tycoon in the White House; he has a chain of hotels. But a Trump presidency may have profound effects on the travel industry. If the US economy shrinks, as a result of the "trade-war" policies that he has proposed, it is likely that airlines, hotels, etc, will rein in the scale of their operations, with less choice and potentially higher prices, in an environment in which everyone feels a little bit poorer.

In the short term at least, the experience of a visit to the US should not change, except for a possible financial boost.

The US dollar fell sharply overnight, making Sterling stronger, though much of the ground was later recovered. Any sustained improvement in the £:$ rate will represent a bonus for British travellers to America and dozens of other destinations, such as Dubai, Thailand and Latin America, whose currencies are tied to the dollar.


Aircraft leases and fuel are priced in US dollars, so again a fall in the value of the American dollar will be beneficial for European airlines, particularly those based in the UK.

Longer term, reaching the US could get more difficult, with your faith possibly determining how easy it is to get through passport control.

In December 2015 Mr Trump said: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.” Politically that may be impossible to impose, in which case there may well be much stricter controls on every foreign visitor - which will horrify states that are heavily dependent on tourism, such as Florida, Nevada and California.

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