(NEXSTAR) — With growing concerns over economic instability and global tensions, many major tourist destinations across the nation fear they might see fewer visitors this year. However, travel experts suggest that if demand significantly decreases, you might benefit from better deals emerging as a result.
Where is tourism declining?
A
Las Vegas tourism report
Released earlier this week indicated that both visitor numbers and hotel occupancy rates decreased compared to last year. This was according to data from California’s tourism board.
reported steep drop-offs
beginning in February and March.
Due to the decline in travel demand, leading U.S. airlines are cutting back on their flight schedules and adjusting or canceling their financial forecasts for the year.
“We concluded with a robust fourth quarter, experienced reasonable activity in January, but noticed a significant decline in domestic leisure travel as we moved into February,” said American Airlines CEO Robert Isom to CNBC.
Customer hesitance to reserve trips would align with
a new poll
That indicated numerous individuals are afraid the U.S. is under threat.
steered into a recession
Moreover, President Donald Trump’s extensive and inconsistently applied tariffs will lead to increased costs.
The decrease in visitors includes both local and international tourists.
U.S. Travel Association
International visits decreased by 14% in March compared to the previous year. According to the report, the most significant declines came from travelers originating in Canada and Western Europe.
Michael Feroli, who leads the U.S. economics team at J.P. Morgan, suggested that the decline in travel might be attributed to an increase in negative feelings toward Americans.
Over the past few weeks, several articles have highlighted how tourists are cancelling their visits to the U.S. as a response to what they see as overly strict new trade measures,” he stated in his report for clients. “This could indicate an additional factor we should take into account when evaluating the impact of these duties on overall economic actions.
A modest decrease in international travel, stemming from either boycotts or financial instability, could result in significant losses for the US economy amounting to billions of dollars.
Bloomberg
reports.
Will the decrease in tourism lead to better travel offers?
Should demand decrease within the travel industry, airlines, hotel chains, and similar businesses might reduce their prices in an effort to attract more customers.
Airfares decreased in February and March, as reported.
The Bureau of LaborStatistics monitoring
.
The ticket prices haven’t been as robust as they were during the last quarter of the previous year extending into January and early February,” said Alaska Airlines Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett to CNBC. “While demand remains elevated across the sector, it hasn’t reached the heights we expected would persist from last year.
Before jumping to too many conclusions, several industry analysts recommend holding off until the April data comes out to evaluate whether the typically bustling spring break and Easter travel periods also experienced price decreases.
Nonetheless, airline business writer
Brian Summers
told The New York Times, “On the whole, I expect prices will fall and we will see more empty seats.”
If we see the U.S. economy tip into an economic recession this year, that could also make travel — and other goods and services — cheaper.
“Indeed, during the 2008 downturn, we experienced deflation for several months when the general price level dropped,” explained Tyler Schipper, an associate professor of economics at the University of St. Thomas. “This phenomenon tends to be especially noticeable in sectors such as travel, which many families consider a luxury. For example, airfare typically sees decreases in price leading up to most economic downturns. If another recession were to occur, I believe we’d observe similar trends once again.”
Nexstar’s Addy Bink and the Associated Press provided contributions for this report.
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