“The country I knew no longer exists”He assured AFPHaël Gruber, a 60 -year -old who, together with his family, used to go every year Cod, in Massachusetts, since 2018.
“Before, telling the migration officer that we came to observe whales was a good reason to come, but now They are afraid of everything that comes from abroad”, He added from Frankfurt.
In the United States, the Number of visitors from Western Europe fell 17% in Marchalthough it increased by 12% in April compared to the same period of 2024, according to the US Tourism Agency.
Arrivals from Germany, specifically, decreased by 28% in March, but increased by 14% in April, due to a later spring vacation this year, Torsten Schäfer, spokesman for the German Federation of Tourist Operators (DRV) said.
“In recent months, there were almost no requests for change of reservation or cancellation,” he said. What he did, however, is that They request many more information about the conditions of entry to the United States.
At the end of March, several European countries called their citizens to extreme surveillance regarding Documents requested in case of a trip to the United States.
Like Gruber, Matt Reay, a 35 -year -old British professor, resigned to travel to the United States. The man, originally from Northampthonshire, in the center of England, Choose South Americawhere his “money will probably be better spent.”
In the United States, “as foreign visitor, I don’t really feel welcome”, He told AFP.
“The atmosphere is a bit off”
The United States Vice President JD Vance, “directly insulted the United Kingdom as a country,” said the history professor, who also said that “Tariffs are quite insulting“And” the treatment dispensed to the Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski (…) frankly scandalous. “
The number of travelers from the United Kingdom fell by 14% year -on -year in March and increased 15% in April.
The results of the March are explained by a “reaction to the polarizing rhetoric and the political actions of the Trump administration, as well as the concerns about the hardening of migratory and border policies”Oxford Economics said in a note.
The rebound of April can also be explained by Flight promotions. “You can find flights, especially in New York, for 600 euros,” said Didier Arino, director of the French consultant Protourisme.
In Germany, Muriel Wagner, 34, decided to keep his trip to Boston to visit a friend in Harvard, one of the universities in conflict with the Trump administration.
“We wonder how the political situation and trade war with the United States would affect our trip”, Explained this doctor at the University of Frankfurt.
“Do not be intimidated“He said, impatient for knowing Americans” to talk to them about the situation. “
“When one goes to the United States, There is a part of American dream“Arino explained.” But the atmosphere is a little more off “and” it is such a great financial involvement that, in addition, to be constantly insulted by the US administration when one is European, they do not want, “he added.
Arino calculates that the “Trump effect” on France made 25% go back to travel to the United States This year.
Although the number of French travelers only decreased 8% in March, the fall continued in April (-12%), according to an agency that brings together more than 1,600 companies in the sector. The outputs of this summer to the United States, in turn, go back 11%.
According to a study by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which groups the main operators of world tourism, the US tourism sector I could lose US $ 12.5 billion in international visitors expenses this year.