Europeans Already Avoiding the U.S.: Demand for Flights Down by 25%

AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS

The French hotel group Accor SA has warned that bookings from Europe to the U.S. this summer have decreased by 25%, as travelers who feel alienated due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown are redirecting their trips to other locations.

The company is experiencing "a pretty strong slowdown" across the Atlantic, said CEO Sébastien Bazin in an interview with Bloomberg. The decline accelerated by 18-20% in the first 90 days of the year, he added.

"Travelers are choosing to visit places like Canada, South America, and Egypt instead of the U.S.," Bazin said.

Transatlantic travel has long been a mainstay for airlines and tourism companies, considered one of the most lucrative routes anywhere in the world. Now, more companies are warning that the connection is under strain – as U.S. tourists tighten their belts and avoid Europe, and Europeans increasingly bypass the U.S. for political reasons.

While European airline leaders said last week that there have been no changes in demand for travel across the North Atlantic corridor for now, Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd raised an alarm this week over the recent decline in travel to the UK. This caused a drop in stocks for transatlantic carriers like British Airways, the parent company of IAG SA.

Air Canada announced on Monday that bookings for cross-border flights between Canadian and U.S. cities have decreased by 10% from April to September, as Canadians respond to the new trade war by avoiding travel south.

This change is part of a broader boycott of U.S. products in response to Trump’s tariffs and his repeated statements suggesting that Canada should be part of the U.S.