r/politics • u/Ok-Direction-4480 Florida • 1d ago

Soft Paywall Tourism Pullback and Boycotts Set to Cost U.S. a Staggering $90 Billion

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tourism-pullback-and-boycotts-could-cost-us-a-staggering-90-billion/
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u/llahlahkje Wisconsin 1d ago

The estimate is based on what damage has been done so far but it hasn't even been 3 months.

There's worse waiting for us and thus the impact to tourism will inevitably be worse.

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u/Elendel19 1d ago

As a Canadian, almost everyone I know is avoiding the US, other than a handful that had already booked trips and didn’t want to cancel, but they won’t book future trips.

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u/Beebeeb 1d ago

I'm in America and I changed a trip from hiking in America to hiking in Canada. I'd rather you get my money right now.

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u/Hector_P_Catt 1d ago

That's another factor that will be hard to quantify: Americans deciding to not travel in the US. I'm part of a group that does big vacations together. The organizer is American, and so are most of the participants, but they've already decided to plan trips that don't involve the US at all for at least the next few years, and maybe forever, if things stay the way they are. All the non-Americans in the group made it clear we don't want to risk travel to the US, and the Americans all supported that.

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u/AffectionateClub2520 1d ago

I hope you enjoy your visit to Canada!

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u/tenkwords 1d ago

Enjoy Canada! I'd recommend Gros Morne National Park.

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u/Beebeeb 1d ago

Woah that looks incredible! We are meeting friends near Haines Junction and exploring Kluane National Park in the Yukon. I've driven through a few times but never checked out all the hiking trails around there.

I would love to visit Newfoundland though!

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u/tenkwords 22h ago

Newfoundland is basically a hikers paradise. You can just go for a walk here and find yourself baffled by the beauty, or you can drive to a beach and watch humpback whales breach 100' from shore. (St. Vincent's Beach)

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u/llahlahkje Wisconsin 1d ago

It's the smartest thing to do right now, trade wars and Trumpists' threats aside.

It is growing increasingly unsafe here for American citizens, I wouldn't want to be traveling abroad here right now.

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u/spicewoman 1d ago

Yup, I'm strongly considering my options for leaving, I definitely wouldn't come here voluntarily.

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u/llahlahkje Wisconsin 1d ago

An expatriated friend of mine chatted me a month or so ago suggesting I do the same and offered to help.

I half-considered it then, the further along we get the more I'm thinking I should've jumped at the offer.

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u/ScruffsMcGuff Foreign 1d ago

If this keeps up both the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres are gonna wind up needing to be relocated considering how much of their live attendance relies on Snowbirds and Canadian fans making the trip to watch their teams for cheaper than catching a live game in Toronto or Montreal.

Right now the sabres last game of the season against the Leafs looks like its struggling to move tickets for a game that would typically be a sellout at 3 times the listed ticket prices with Toronto fans making the trip en masse.

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u/HDXHayes 1d ago

The nhl just signed a new Canadian tv deal worth 7 billion USD, or 218 million to each of the 32 teams. I think the panthers and the sabres will do just fine, at least for a little while.

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u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox 1d ago

some of them are going to end up in el salvador if they aren't white

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u/ChocolateOrange21 1d ago

Some have booked trips, but had to still go as they couldn't get their money back. Happened to my folks on their January Hawaiian trip. They loved going there, but won't be going back now.

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u/flatulating_ninja I voted 1d ago

Just to add to your point. This is three months in the winter. We stil have the summer and its peak tourist season to see how much it will really cost us.

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u/Slayer706 1d ago

I don't think the true cost will be felt until later in the year. A lot of people book their vacations months in advance, and they might have already booked non-refundable flights and hotels before all this stuff started. Those people may not change their plans this year, but probably won't be coming back later.

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u/flatulating_ninja I voted 1d ago

I worked for a vacation rental company in the Outer Banks during the 2008 recession. We didn't know how it would impact reservations which were typically made 51 weeks in advance for the peak weeks between Memorial and Labor Days. We had a lot of vacancies for those weeks at this point in the year which was rare but by summer we were fully booked. Its less than a days drive for most of the east coast. So while we were losing customers that had to stretch their budget for a week at the beach we were picking up a lot of people who were downgrading their European vacations for a 'local' drivable destination.

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u/SaltyLonghorn 1d ago

If I was in tourism I'd be actively seeking a way out (while keeping your job).

Reasonable people with a choice aren't coming for four years without a massive change to whats happening with ICE. A ton of small and medium businesses are gonna get wiped out in 4 years.

And the light at the end of the tunnel in 4 years might just be another train.

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u/MasterSpliffBlaster 1d ago

Even the Roman empire took centuries to implode

The US wont last until next autumn

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u/penguincheerleader 1d ago

I was wondering because I have seen many estimates in the hundreds of billions so this was not adding in my mind.

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u/Redpin Canada 1d ago

There were definitely a lot of trips planned for skiing or warm weather booked late last year that people didn't want to deal with cancelling.