by Donald Wood
Last updated: 7:00 AM ET, Fri August 17, 2018
A new study found that United States President Donald Trump's trade war with China could hurt the country's tourism sector in 2018.
According to findings from ForwardKeys, weekly bookings from China to the U.S. have dropped since the first tariffs were instituted in March. The overall numbers for August are down 8.4 percent as compared to last year and they continue to drop.
While the number of weekly bookings was up two percent between February and March, the recent negative travel trend has been influenced by warnings from China regarding security risks in the U.S. and the dropping value of Chinese currency.
The Chinese Yuan has fallen 7.5 percent against the U.S. dollar since the tariffs were introduced.
Overall, Chinese outbound bookings across the world have climbed 5.5 percent when compared to 2017, but are down 9.6 percent from last year for trips to America. The biggest factor in the drop is a 34.4 percent decrease in group travel from China to the U.S. compared to last year.
"Our findings strongly suggest that President Trump's trade war has had a significant impact on Chinese tourism to the U.S. Looking at the year to date, we see a setback in Chinese tourism arrivals of just under 5percent," ForwardKeys CEO Olivier Jager said in a statement. "If that continues to the end of the year, we estimate that the cost to the U.S. economy will be north of $500 million in 2018. Chinese spending in this sector is significant - it amounts to the largest category of U.S. services exports to China. It is unquestionable that the Chinese appetite for visiting the USA is diminishing and that is bound to worry the U.S. travel industry."
Bookings by free independent travelers are also behind 3.9 percent to the U.S., but Chinese bookings to Canada were up 4.8 percent through July and are currently ahead eight percent for August to December.
Chinese tourism is important to the world's economy, with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reporting total spending by tourists from China abroad at $258 billion in 2017.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
