Travel In The Age Of President Trump

Even reading a headline like that may make you feel strange: never has the US had a head of state like Donald Trump, reports The Independent.
Whatever you think of the 45th American president, the experience of a visit to the US should not change in the short term, except for a financial boost.
The markets have concluded that, with the trade barriers that Donald Trump proposed to create, America’s economy is heading for trouble. They responded with a swift and severe fall in the value of the US dollar, which of course means Sterling is actually stronger. That will be a short-term plus for travellers to America and dozens of other countries (eg Dubai, Hong Kong, Latin America) whose currencies are tied to the dollar.
Aircraft leases and fuel are priced in US dollars, which will be beneficial in the short term for European airlines, particularly those based in the UK.
Emotionally, the effects are less easy to predict. The welcoming people, Florida theme parks, New York streets, National Park wildernesses and California sunshine will remain the same. But during the campaign Donald Trump invoked fear and hate, and America may feel more divided than it has done since the Vietnam War, with abundant mutual suspicion and distrust. So a journey to America could be a significantly less joyful experience.
Longer term, reaching the US could get more difficult, with your faith possibly determining how easy it is to get through passport control.
In December 2015 Mr Trump said: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.” Politically that may be impossible to impose, in which case there may well be much stricter controls on every foreign visitor – which will appal states such as Florida that are dependent on tourism.
In addition, some overseas visitors will decide that they no longer wish to visit America, or at least not for the next four years. For people who are prepared to travel, that could spell bargains if demand weakens enough.
A Trump presidency may have profound effects on the travel industry. If the US economy shrinks, as a result of the policies that he has proposed, it is likely that airlines, hotels, etc, will rein in the scale of their operations, with less choice and potentially higher prices, in an environment in which everyone feels a little bit poorer.