The Trump effect: many foreign tourists say they’re afraid to visit the US

During spring break, Canadian families used to pile the kids into a tour bus and head to New York to see the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center and other attractions. It was the start of the busy season for Comfort Tour, a Toronto-based company that usually brought between 200 and 300 tourists to New York in March.

This year, 11 people have signed up for the tours.

“Even white, Anglo-Saxon people, who are most of our customers, they are afraid of crossing the border,” said Al Qanun, manager and part owner of the travel agency. “They don’t want to end up in some prison.”

The fallout from US President Donald Trump’s executive orders limiting travel from some Middle Eastern and African countries is having far-reaching implications for US. tourism

It is not just visitors from the countries targeted by the bans that are souring on US travel; the seven countries included in Trump’s original order in January account for 0.1 per cent of incoming travellers. Rather, an atmosphere of fear at the nation’s airports — and well-publicised incidents of visitors being detained and interrogated — are scaring off people without the slightest connection to the Muslim world.