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The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) projects a loss of more than $1.3 billion in overall travel-related expenditures in the U.S. due to political uncertainty.
The loss includes hotel, food, car rentals and shopping expenses that inbound travelers would have spent, almost $250 million of which will be lost from having fewer business travelers from Europe and the Middle East, the GBTA said. According to the GBTA, Europe is forecast to lose over $250 million in airfare spending this year and the Middle East will lose over $80 million in airfare.
The GBTA said it used first-quarter ticketing data from ARC as well as publicly available travel data and the GBTA’s economic research and models to gauge the impact of what it described as “mounting geopolitical uncertainty” on the economy.
“There is no question that uncertainty is bad for business travel and bad for the global economy,” the GBTA said in a statement, citing the Trump administration’s first two attempts at a travel ban, the first of which the GBTA said cost the U.S. $185 million in business travel bookings in one week, followed by the laptop ban in carry-ons from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa.
With talk of the laptop ban expanding to flights from Europe to the U.S., “as we await the verdict on a possible expansion of the electronics ban, we have yet another uncertainty factor,” the GBTA said.
The GBTA said the “cumulative impact of anti-travel policies … leave the perception to many that the United States is closed for business.”
The GBTA said the greater concern is that there will be a longer-term impact on business travel as companies begin to host meetings and events in other destinations. In an earlier survey of its European members, the GBTA found that 45% indicated their company would be less willing to plan future meetings and events in the U.S. due to executive orders on travel.
Sоurсе: travelweekly.com