Skift Take
We knew 2017 was going to be a wild ride for U.S. tourism and that's certainly how it played out. Although many of Trump's policies did more harm than good for the travel industry, some could have been much worse.
As United States President Donald Trump's first year in office ends later this month, there's no question that the president already left his mark on the global travel industry regardless of your political leanings.
Trump took office on January 20, 2017, and by many measures, inherited a healthy and vibrant U.S. travel industry from former President Barack Obama.
Since January 2017, Trump issued multiple travel bans, which faced legal challenges; international arrivals to the U.S. have dropped; the White House reintroduced Cuba travel restrictions, and hurricanes ravaged parts of the Caribbean, including U.S. territory Puerto Rico, which still has about half of the population without electricity, and the Gulf Coast.
The president's first 100 days in office, a benchmark for assessing a president's initial performance in terms of keeping campaign promises and making legislative achievements, set the tone for the rest of the year. By the time Trump's first 100 days ended on April 29, Skift's editorial team had already reported on hospitality CEOs' concerns; some U.S. airlines' high hopes; booking site CEOs' activist roles, mostly in opposition to Trump, and tourism board worries that they wouldn't meet their international visitation goals in 2017.
Many U.S. airline and hotel CEOs, however, have praised the U.S. tax bill's passage on December 22 – the Trump Administration's signature legislative achievement in 2017. Travel executives such as Best Western CEO David Kong, Delta Air Lines CFO Paul Jacobson, and Priceline Group CEO Glenn Fogel, for instance, have said tax reform will directly benefit their companies and shareholders.
But while much of corporate America is celebrating the new year with tax cuts in sight, other companies and organizations are anxious about White House executive orders or Congressional legislation to come. Many international travelers are likely wondering if they'll encounter trouble at U.S. Customs checkpoints.
Still, Trump brought attention to an important travel industry agenda item during his first year in office – a much-needed, massive transportation infrastructure investment bill. But infrastructure bills tend to get drowned out when the president continues to trumpet ideas such as a border wall with Mexico.
Following is a look back at the Trump Administration's actions in 2017 that impacted various travel industry sectors and what to watch in each of these areas in 2018.
First Stop: Travel Ban 1.0
