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| Donald and Melania Trump (from Wikipedia) |
The last time politics affected the tourist industry was back in the days when American tourists were attacked in a random fashion by terrorists while at airports around the world and people from the states stopped flying to Europe on planes because they were afraid they might be subjected to the same treatment.
Never mind that they had more chance of slipping in the bath than being shot at by terrorists, they booked a holiday to feel safe and they were not reassured but frightened by pictures of armed police at airports in Britain where bobbies on the beat rely on truncheons to apprehend villains (or ‘bad guys’ as the Americans call them).
Nowadays it is the other way around and an article in the paper on Saturday described how bookings from around the world have gone down since Trump came to office. So keen is he to give almost unchecked powers to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers that people are scared of being arrested if set foot in America.
We have all heard about the virtual execution of people who do not do exactly as the ICE officers tell them and are quick to lock up anybody – often in horrendous conditions – who have outstayed their visas or have the wrong sort of paperwork. Saturday’s Guardian had a story of an inoffensive grandmother whose husband (and her) were imprisoned like this.
We simply feel that we will wait until Trump is replaced (possibly by someone who shares his views) in a few years before taking that trip to the USA. I have been a few times but have no inclination to return, certainly not while he is in power. I usually avoid politics in my tours. People do not want to hear my views and, after all, they are paying me for my services.
What concerns me more is that many Americans are feeling unloved when they come here. Trump may not last five minutes in British politics but he likes Britain. The feeling, however, is not mutual. Even if one person in Ireland (where I am writing this) said that it is not Americans we dislike, just one of them. It was a good answer but lacking in one aspect.
Because a majority of people in the states voted for him, so they have to take a small amount of responsibility for what he has done, which is virtually to gut the American incoming tourist business and to have knock on effect over here. Bookings are down and I think t is is partly because of Trump’s isolationism.
We live in an interconnected world and the tourist business is very much a part of that. If people do not feel safe and welcomed when they travel, they will stay at home for their vacation. It is up to tourist guides and others who work in incoming tourism to fight this by making all our visitors, particularly those from the USA, feel welcome when they come here.
My other blog is diaryofatouristguide.blogspot.com
Edwin Lerner
