A recent analysis by the U.S. Travel Association has found that international travel to the U.S. declined during the first half of 2017—a trend that could prove problematic for associations with events that draw international visitors, if it continues.

U.S. Travel's most recent Travel Trends Index found that international travel contracted during four of the first seven months of the year when compared to the previous year. The declines were steepest in February and March, which experienced declines of 6.8 percent and 8.2 percent respectively.

At first glance, the new data appears to confirm fears by some meetings organizers that international travelers would be discouraged from visiting the U.S. because of President Donald Trump's restrictions on travel to the country, such as the ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority countries.

A U.S. Travel report released in June using travel data collected through April seemed to contradict that concern as it showed a jump in foreign visitation. However, the association warned at the time the early figures probably did not reflect any fallout from the travel restrictions, as most travelers plan their trips nearly two months in advance.

"We kept projecting drops in international visitation, and they kept not materializing," U.S. Travel Senior Vice President for Research David Huether said. "However, we recently were able to access new data inputs for the (Travel Trends Index) to give us an even more comprehensive picture, and sure enough, the international travel segment has been far weaker than what was initially shown."

U.S. Travel CEO Roger Dow said there are policies the Trump administration can enact to reverse the dip in international travel. One would be to continue Brand USA, a joint government-private industry partnership promoting the U.S. as a destination for foreign visitors. Others would to be preserve "Open Skies" agreements concerning air travel and continue the visa waiver program.

"Inbound travel to the U.S. already went through one ‘lost decade' after 9/11," Dow said. "It took a sustained national policy effort to return to the pre-9/11 level of travel exports, which only happened last year. If we don't want to give back all of that progress, the time to act is now." http://bit.ly/2jkxHzo

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