LONDON: Holidaymakers in countries hit hardest by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are shunning the United States for their trips abroad, while UK and US travellers are increasingly choosing to staycation amid economic worries, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
Johannes Thomas, chief executive of hotel search site Trivago, told the PA news agency the group was seeing double-digit declines in bookings to the US from travellers in Canada, Mexico, and Japan.
Demand among Germans for trips to the US is also down heavily, with a single-digit decline in bookings for accommodation in the US, although the firm has not seen a significant change in demand from Britons travelling to the US.
Trump has levied tariffs on more than 180 countries, with Canada and Mexico among the first to be impacted – although he later paused many of his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days following financial market turmoil.
Germany – the largest economy in Europe – is set to be hit particularly hard by the US tariffs and the threat to its exports.
Thomas added that US holidaymakers are also paring back their holiday spending in the face of economic uncertainty caused by Trump’s move to unleash higher tariffs on countries across the world.
Thomas told PA: “If you look at the different markets, the US tends to be the more sensitive one to uncertainty.
“People there are much more connected to the stock market and have a higher amount of debt, so are more sensitive to economic developments.”
Bookings on the site show Americans are spending less on their trips, while there is higher demand for cheaper hotels and lower star categories.
Germany-based Trivago, which is majority-owned by Expedia, said that the economic worries caused by the trade war has also seen a trend for many travellers across the US and the UK to opt for domestic trips.
Recent booking data shows that in the UK, there has been a 25 per cent year-on-year leap in demand for domestic travel for the key months of July to September.
“In times of uncertainty, people stay closer to home,” said Thomas.
The group said London is topping the destinations for British staycationers, followed by Edinburgh, where demand is up by nearly 30 per cent; York; Blackpool; and Manchester.
But Thomas said that among Britons, bookings have remained robust despite clouds over the wider global and UK economy, with a 16 per cent increase in total travel demand for the peak quarter to September.
