U.S. Tourism decline

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe spoke to Paul Charles, Chief Executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency

Transcript

00:00Well, let's talk now to Paul Charles, the chief executive of the travel consultancy, the PC agency.

00:07Paul, welcome back. How does this look to you?

00:10I mean, it's presumably rather concerning if you're running a tourism business in the States.

00:16These do seem to be self-inflicted wounds coming out of the USA due to policy changes with the new administration.

00:24And as a result, tourists are reacting. They're voting with their feet.

00:30And of course, it isn't just the hotels or attractions that they might be visiting or staying in in the US that are affected.

00:39When travelers don't go into a country, then obviously it affects the way they were going as well.

00:45It affects airlines that are flying into that country.

00:47It affects the taxi service, perhaps, that they might have used to go to the origination airport.

00:54So it's not just America that will suffer from a decline in tourists.

00:58It's services in countries as well, where those tourists are coming from.

01:03And are non-customers really sitting in Europe or China thinking, well, I'm not sure about all this tariff stuff.

01:09We're going to stay away from the United States.

01:11Do people really make those kind of decisions?

01:13Some people make those decisions.

01:17Undoubtedly, they're put off by the uncertainty, perhaps.

01:21They're put off by higher costs.

01:23The swinging, seesawing, if you like, of the dollar might have an impact as well,

01:28because their holiday or business trip cost will change whilst they're staying in America itself.

01:36So all of these are factors which can affect whether, in fact, somebody decides to continue with a trip,

01:42or indeed whether they pre-book some months in advance.

01:45And that's the danger that they're put off from traveling for some months.

01:49Are you able to work out yet where people might be going if they're not booking to the States?

01:56We are starting to see some signs already of where people are choosing to go.

02:01Canada is clearly benefiting, just next door to the United States, of course,

02:06giving a semi-American experience but with an English twist.

02:12So Canada has been doing very well.

02:14Europe is starting to see more visitors, booking for the April to August period.

02:21So people choosing to stay, perhaps, within Europe rather than leave Europe and go to America.

02:27And indeed we're seeing some fluctuations in a positive way in terms of visitors to the UK

02:33who might have gone to America but instead are choosing to come

02:37to perhaps something seen more stable like the United Kingdom.

02:42White House policy seems to fluctuate on an almost weekly basis.

02:46I guess the tourists tend to be slightly more medium-term and long-term.

02:51We're making plans for our holidays way into next year.

02:57Certainly, as far as the US is concerned, it tends to be a market where people book well in advance.

03:03But don't forget it's an enormous market with hundreds of millions of citizens in it.

03:09And if the tourists don't arrive from overseas, then you see a pump priming of domestic tourism.

03:17It's such a large market, the US, you can have a significant positive impact on the economy

03:22just by bringing in more tourists from, say, California into Florida.

03:27So whilst there may be fewer tourists from overseas going into the US in the last few weeks,

03:33we're certainly seeing more tourism within the US itself.

03:38And so that's one reason the Trump administration will look at to say,

03:42well, we're having a positive impact on tourism domestically.

03:46Paul, good to see you. Thanks for that.

03:47Paul Charles, the chief executive of the travel consultancy, the PC Agency.

03:51Paul, good to see you.

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