Some tourists are avoiding Trump's America, but we aren't
Of the record 525 comments on Groundwater's column, the vast majority took the opposite view. Not only were many of the readers critical of the idea of visiting the US under president Trump, many were critical of Groundwater for even suggesting it.
At a time when visitor numbers to the US from various other countries are reportedly plummeting, then, it might come as a surprise to see that Australians are not only continuing to visit, are actually going there in greater numbers than before Trump's election.
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that, in May, the number of Australian residents returning from short trips to the US was a little over 69,000 – an increase of more than 5000, or about 8 per cent, on the same time last year. What's more, the numbers were up in every key category – those travelling a holiday (up 12 per cent compared with last year); visiting friends or relatives (up 15 per cent) or for business (up 8 per cent).
It's true that the numbers for April showed a decline in Australian visitors, year-on-year, for the first time since borders reopened after the pandemic, but so far that amounts to a blip, not a trend. Overall this year the number of Australians visiting the US is up about 3 per cent and in May the US was our fourth most-visited country, behind only Indonesia, New Zealand and Japan.
The number of Australians heading to the US still remains below pre-COVID levels, one of only two countries in our top 10 to have not surpassed 2019's numbers (New Zealand is the other one), but this might indicate that the strength of the US dollar has been a bigger factor in deterring visitors than any political issues.
Australians have long been a sought-after market for US tourist destinations. We are among the top 10 sources of visitors and tend to stay longer and spend more money than tourists from other countries.
And it seems we are continuing to go there in droves. This comes even as a series of horror stories are reported about Australians and others being denied entry to the US for seemingly arbitrary reasons.
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