The number of countries welcoming US tourists, at home and abroad, is back at levels not seen since President Donald Trump was elected, according to travel data agency ForwardKeys.
Average daily bookings among US leisure travellers to the 14 countries surveyed in May, the most recent data available, rose by 7.1% compared with April, when there were fewer people.
The UK topped the list of the 14 destinations with an average daily advance bookings increase of 13.9%, followed by Australia (9.2%), Denmark (7.8%), Hong Kong (5.6%), Ireland (5.6%), New Zealand (5.2%), Sweden (5.2%), Canada (5.1%), Germany (4.7%), Austria (4.3%), Austria (4.3%), the Netherlands (4.2%), and France (4.1%).
Justin Hancock, a ForwardKeys executive director, said: “A majority of travellers have the feeling that the US is [now] back, with indications that it is gradually recovering from the travel ban and the rhetoric and policies against the nation.”
However, the data was more limited to the 14 countries it surveyed in May and international hotels said tourists could still face long waits in their local branches to have their passports stamped or for their US room to be finished when US travel alerts were issued, such as one issued last month following Trump’s resignation of the deputy attorney general.
Earlier in the year, a World Travel Monitor survey found 13 countries offering relief to US travellers who were anxious about visa requirements from the new administration.
The research, compiled by Reed Travel Exhibitions and commissioned by US law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, found that Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Thailand were the top countries for US travellers looking to avoid the travel ban and visa delays.
The Trump administration recently extended its travel ban until 10 July, but a federal judge in Hawaii blocked its latest travel restrictions this week, in a move Trump branded a “politically motivated” “manufactured” crisis.
