These Destinations Did Well Despite U.S. International Tourism Slump
Photo Credit: International tourism in the U.S. is down but isn't a complete disaster for many destinations. Pictured are tourists at the Newport mansions in Rhode Island. Flickr / Ernest Bludger
Skift Take
Many U.S. destinations have blamed the president and strong U.S. dollar for the visitor slump during the past year. But might the impact have been softened if U.S. tourism had a cabinet slot to supplement the efforts of Brand USA? Many other countries have had such representation for decades.
Many media outlets have called the past year's U.S. international visitor decline a "Trump Slump" and have been quick to paint a grim, blanket picture of the state of U.S. tourism.
In reality, the visitor decline began before U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, although his rhetoric and policies haven't done much to welcome international travelers to the United States. A stronger U.S. dollar has also made visiting the country less affordable for many nationalities, although that's less of a factor for many of the United States' major source markets as of early 2018.
While tourism boards representing gateway and some off-the-beaten track destinations across the United States have also said some visitor markets were down last year, other destinations pulled-off record visitor totals.
Los Angeles, one of the largest international gateways in the United States, reported a record 48.3 million visitors in 2017.
Discover Los Angeles, the city's tourism board,
