President Donald Trump is all about business, but one of his first actions prompted a slump in business travel to the U.S.
Numerous reports show interest in both business and leisure travel to the U.S. declined since Trump took office. But there was an especially dramatic plunge after he signed a now-suspended executive order on travel Jan. 27 that barred some immigrants and visitors from majority Muslim nations from entering the country, according to data from the travel site Hopper.
The U.S. lost about $185 million in business travel bookings the week after Trump’s travel ban took effect, according to a report from the Global Business Travel Association, which represents corporate travel managers and professionals. Business travel to and from the U.S. had been increasing the week before the ban was instated, but it decreased the week after by more than two percent.
That may sound like a small percentage, but it’s a yuge deal: For every 1 percent change in business travel spending annually, the U.S. loses 71,000 jobs and nearly $5 billion in gross domestic product, according to the GBTA.
Other economists found that Los Angeles County alone could lose the equivalent of $736 million in tourism spending over three years as a result of Trump’s travel ban, The New York Times reported.
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