US tourism drops amid suspected 'Trump slump'

The United States is struggling to attract international tourists.

Government figures show an almost 4% drop off in visitors in the first
six months of last year, at a time when international tourism
worldwide grew.

To explain the decline some have pointed to the new US President - as
the decline coincides with Donald Trump entering the White House.

The tourism industry has signaled its concern by launching a Visit
U.S. Coalition to counter falling figures.

Nick Harper reports from tourist favorite New York.

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TAKE VO
Open for business but struggling to draw in the tourists.
Last year New York saw its first fall in international visitors in
almost a decade.
USA Guided Tours says its business suffered immediately after the
election, but has picked up since. Pedro Hidalgo is the company's
Operations Manager.

SOT - Pedro Hidalgo, USA Guided Tours, Operations Manager
"New York City is like a magnet. People always want to come to New
York City. We have clients that have saved for years to come to New
York City because it is an expensive city to come to. It's a place
everybody wants to be at some point in their life."

TAKE VO
In other parts of the US, numbers are also down. Globally, tourists
coming to America dropped 4% in the first six months of 2017. Visitors
from Asia fell by 7%.
Los Angeles bucked the trend, experiencing a record year, with the
biggest gains coming from South Korea and China.
The President has even felt the pinch. His New York hotels have
slashed prices by as much as a quarter to fill rooms.
TAKE VO
President Trump's critics believe his anti-immigration policies have
hurt America's global standing, pushing it into third place as the
'most popular country to visit', behind France and now Spain. But can
the President alone be blamed for this 'Trump Slump'?

TAKE VO
Other factors can influence travelers - like gun crime, a stronger
dollar, and for some Asian tourists in particular terrorism, according
to industry reports. Dan Peltier is a Tourism Reporter at Skift.

SOT - Dan Peltier, Skift, Tourism Reporter
"With China definitely - there's been a lot of research that shows
that when choosing a destination security is very top of mind. So
Chinese travelers will look negatively upon that and that will deter
many of them from coming."

TAKE VO
Travel industry experts say tariffs and trade wars may also do little
to promote an open door policy.
The US government is predicting an almost 4% rise in international
tourists this year.

SOT - Dan Peltier, Skift, Tourism Reporter
"I would be surprised. I think they're being very optimistic. It just
seems so insurmountable almost. We've had two years of declines so
3.7% growth would be a big turnaround."

TAKE VO
For now, tour operators continue to hustle for tourists dollars.
And the industry hopes, long term, Manhattan's gleaming towers will
prevent others factors from taking a bite out of the Big Apple's
tourist trade.
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