Over the last several months, as candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump took to the stage, screen, and streets, they covered nearly every topic. Health care. The economy. Education, women's rights, all rights. And while much has been talked about how their policies will affect everyday life, not much in their discourse has touched on how we as travelers will be affected, whether at home or abroad.
From a statistical perspective, it initially appears that not much will change. Travel deals website Travelzoo reports that despite the divisiveness of the campaigns, travel has actually united Americans this election season: When asked about their plans for travel in 2017, nearly 68 percent of survey respondents said their plans will not change if Hillary Clinton wins, while 16 percent say their traveling will increase. The numbers are similar for Donald Trump, with 61 percent of respondents traveling just as much, and 16 percent of people traveling even more. Though industry experts are split on whether or not the travel industry goes through an election-year slump, survey responses on increased travel in 2017—and all those unused vacation days—point to the fact that many U.S. citizens are more conservative when it comes to travel in an election year.
Regardless of the expected uptick of travel in 2017, the high profiles of the candidates—and indeed, some of the controversial rhetoric—has some travelers concerned about the reception they'll receive in countries around the world: Sixty-nine percent of those polled by Travelzoo said they are worried that the election negatively impacts how U.S. citizens are perceived overseas, and there is some merit in believing that the prospective presidents' economic and social policies could affect relations across the board, and trickle down to tourism. (In popular vacation spot Germany, for example, leader Angela Merkel has been described by Trump as "ruining" the country.)
Another thing to watch? How travelers to and around the U.S. will increase—or decrease. Consider the numbers: In 2015, direct spending by resident and international travelers in the U.S. averaged $2.6 billion a day, $108.1 million an hour, $1.8 million a minute, and $30,033 a second. Of the U.S.'s 77.5 million international arrivals in 2015, 39.1 million came from Canada and Mexico—no throwaway fact in an election where one candidate's potential victory is causing great anxiety among Mexicans, and where many U.S. citizens have expressed an interest in flowing the other way across the border.
Much like the ramifications of Brexit, wherein the value of the pound crashed, economists say that the shift in presidents will initially lead to a weaker dollar value. (According to The Huffington Post, Trump has already caused a historic drop in the stock market.) This could bode well for travelers looking to come into the country and travel through the states, but be a pain point for U.S. travelers used to a strong dollar. How else will the new president's policies and persona affect travel? Stay tuned.
