Trump slump: plummeting tourism figures have the US in a spin

The rapidly reduced number of visitors to the US has politicians and marketers in a spin.

Five Brand USA board members, including the board chair, were abruptly fired via email following orders from the White House, travel news portal Skift reported.

The five board members relieved of their Brand USA board duties were chair Elliott Ferguson, CEO of Destination DC; vice chair Lauren Bailey, CEO of Upward Projects; Kristen Esposito, principal of Esposito Global Partners; secretary Allen Orr, founder of Orr Immigration Law; and Tim Mapes, chief marketing and communications officer at Delta Air Lines.

The moves were seen as part of the Trump Administration's moves to put its stamp on the US tourism industry.

"Trump is turning over the board,” a source told Skift.

Ferguson was only five months into his one-year term.

A Brand USA spokesperson said: “Brand USA has no comment regarding your query. We refer you to the US Department of Commerce, which manages board appointments.”

There was no mention of the sackings on the Brand USA website.

Tourism to the US has slumped post-Covid and even more since Donald Trump became president for the second time.

Australians, famed for long stays, were identified as a target market for the US, but recent data from the US International Trade Administration shows that Australian visitor numbers plunged by 7% in March this year compared to the year before.

The drop in Australians travelling to the US comes amidst reports of travellers being denied entry, hassled by immigration officials and phones being seized to search for anti-Trump sentiments.

Other countries with a significant reduction in people travelling to the US included Canada, Colombia, Germany and the UK.

Hotel giant starts to shrink its workforce

Hotel giant Marriott has begun to sack and offer early-retirement to many of its long-serving workers.

The sackings are being presented as a "restructure for efficiency", travel news portal Skift reports.

Marriott is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and the state has posted a WARN (Work Adjustment and Retraining) notice, citing an initial 833 layoffs by Marriott.

The company had recently said it was considering shedding about 5,000 workers.

Certainly something to think about when you decide to book your next hotel stay.

A company spokesperson declined to say how many people were laid off or to answer questions about Skift’s reporting. But they did provide a statement:

“Earlier this year, we began a strategic review of all aspects of Marriott International’s business across geographies to enhance our enterprise-wide effectiveness and discussed this initiative on our Q3 earnings call,” the spokesperson said.

“While always difficult, these job reductions at our corporate and continent offices will reshape the way we work and are expected to be largely in place in Q1 2025.”