ASTA Says Trump's Travel Ban Is Having a Negative Effect on Travel

President Donald Trump's temporary immigration ban is having "a chilling effect on the travel industry," according to Eben Peck, ASTA's senior vice president of government affairs and communication.

Peck, who spoke with journalists during a press call, said, "The way this was implemented, and all the confusion it has created, is having an impact beyond just people coming into the country from seven countries.

"We are seeing an impact on corporate travel business and on outbound and inbound travel."

The president's executive order bans citizens from the mainly Muslim countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - as well as all refugees - from entering the U.S. Over the weekend, a U.S. appeal court denied a U.S. Department of Justice request to immediately restore the ban.

Peck said ASTA has been asking members for their reactions to the ban and its effect on their businesses. "We consulted with our members, we have a survey in the field, and we have anecdotal feedback," he said.

The survey, which ASTA expects to release shortly, seeks members' answers to more qualitative questions, according to Peck.

One ASTA member, Amie O'Shaughnessy founder of Ciao Bambino!, reported, "We definitely have clients rethinking their plans and had a cancellation just today from a client as a direct result of this ban.

"A client who is a U.S. resident with a green card and is from India (not one of the stated seven countries) was advised by their attorney to cancel their plans to be out of the U.S. for fear that they couldn't get back in given the situation. So they've canceled their trip to Europe that was booked with us."

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Another ASTA member, Cathie Lentz Fryer, president of CTA Travel, said, "We have clients who travel oversees for business, others who are scheduled to depart on company incentives and others who are scheduled for vacations. At the initial release of the executive order all had contacted us to cancel their travel.

"Now even with the updated information that Lawful Permanent Residents of the U.S., green card holders, will be allowed back in the county, several are afraid to travel," she added. "What if another change happens and they can't get back home?"

Peck said ASTA has also heard from members whose clients are concerned about how Americans will be received abroad.

Some travelers have asked about travel to Mexico in light of the president's talk of building a wall between that country and the U.S., said Peck.

"I had a client traveling to Cancun in March over Spring Break, tell me her husband is freaking out because he's sure all Mexicans hate all Americans, and they'll be in danger when they travel," said Julie Imgrund, president of Bellevue Travel. "So now he doesn't want to go."

Asked if ASTA has taken a stand on the ban itself, Peck said, "We haven't gotten to that point," although he noted that ASTA members' views on the ban are mixed. "A good chunk supports what President Trump is doing," he said.

In a statement on the ban, released last month, ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby, urged the new administration "to expeditiously set clear rules of the road so that travel industry stakeholders can serve their clients, that travel disruptions are kept to a minimum and that the traveling public can maintain confidence in an industry vital to our nation's economy."

ASTA will continue to closely follow what's happening with the ban, the various court challenges to it, and its effects on members businesses and travel in general, said Peck.

"We will try to share guidance, answer questions, and make sure people know the rules of the road, to the extent that they're knowable."

Peck added - at the risk of "making lemonade from lemons" - that the current situation precisely illustrates why travelers need travel agents who "can sort through these issues."

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