The travel industry is weighing in on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Trump Administration’s controversial travel policy that cracks down on travel to the U.S. from Muslim-majority countries—Iran, Chad, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia—as well as North Korea and government officials from Venezuela.
For the U.S. Travel Association, the hope is that the ruling will launch a more welcoming tone from the administration as well as a “coherent and durable” set of policies. “Today's decision should enable the White House to move on to a new messaging phase: making it clear that keeping bad actors out remains a priority, but making it equally clear that legitimate business and leisure travelers are as welcome and desired as ever in the United States," said U.S. Travel's Executive Vice President for Public Affairs Jonathan Grella in a statement. "The economic stakes around strong and healthy international travel are too high—and speak too squarely to the president's priorities of growing exports, jobs, and the GDP—for the welcome message not to become a featured part of the administration's calculus.”
Michael W. McCormick, executive director and COO for the Global Business Travel Association, remains concerned about the long-term impact of Trump Administration travel policies. In a statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling, he cited the results of member surveys that reveal the concerns of business travel managers, including this statistic: 62 percent of U.S. [travel] buyers believe this Administration is having a negative impact on business travel.
“The numbers clearly show there has been—and there will continue to be—an impact,” McCormick wrote in the statement. “GBTA is deeply concerned about the long-term impact of these survey results, and the global perception of doing business with the United States. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and as the United States changes its policies about inbound travel, others are likely to do the same.”
Read McCormick’s full statement here.
