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Study: US Tourism On Decline Since Trump Election, Especially In LA

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Tourism in the United States has taken a hit since Donald Trump became president, a new study says.

The number of foreign visitors coming to the states has dropped 16 percent in recent months compared to the same time a year ago, according to an analysis by Foursquare.

Los Angeles and San Diego are most impacted by the decline.

Barry Gunter from South Africa says he did think twice. "People are more hesitant to come due to Donald Trump and the political side and everything," he says.

Katya from Russia says: "Makes me even more interested to come here [to see] what people think."

"We are French. It's easy for us to come to the United States. Maybe for other countries, it's a little bit more harder," Paul Jouvet from France says. "It's worth coming, definitely worth coming. It's amazing. It's nice. It's not as bad as everyone says it is with the political stuff."

The Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board just updated its predictions based on the current climate.

The agency projects a three-year loss of 800,000 international visitors to Los Angeles. That means an estimated loss of $736 million in direct tourism spending.

The decline comes after a steady increase in the past years of overall visitors and an all-time high of foreign tourists in 2016.

Los Angeles tourism officials are fighting back against the downward trend with a promotional video called "Everyone Is Welcome."

LA 2024: Everyone Is Welcome by AIPS Media Channel on YouTube

It ran as paid ads in five countries for five weeks and just ended Sunday.

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