Following the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, US-bound flight searches from Arab countries has shown significant drops. Muslim US flight searches have gone down by seventy percent in comparison to October 2016.
Cheap Flights Finder, an automated flight search engine, has reported that the two weeks following the Trump 2016 election has displayed a significant drop in US flight searches. Instead, as reported by Travel Pulse, data has shown a post-election spike in flight searches for countries such as the UK, Turkey, and Malaysia.
The president-elect expressed a firm stand on the deportation and rejection of Muslim travellers and immigrants during his campaign. Due to Trump's insistence on the matter, many speculated a crash in the US travel industry coming in from Arabic countries and Islamic nations.
However, as stated by the search engine CEO, Shahab Siddiqui, there is no conclusive information stating a connection between the flight search drop and the election. Regardless, it is apparent that a majority of Muslim travelers have decided against US travel in the past few weeks.
The recent spikes in flight searches are apparently directed towards predominantly Islamic countries. These spikes in searches may be found in countries that are also predominantly Islamic, showing that Muslim travelers are opting to visit fellow Muslim countries.
Statistics also suggest that Muslim travelers may feel safer opting for UK travel. Though both countries see Muslims as a minority (1% in the US and 4.8% in the UK), recent search polls show that these travelers show preference for the UK.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Siddiqui states that the US travel industry may experience a downfall in the following months due to ongoing speculation regarding the Trump administration. The uncertainty regarding future US travel laws and processes may be scaring away potential travelers.
Travel experts have expressed their desire to continuously monitor statistics similar to those presented by Cheap Flights Finder. The industry intends to keep close watch on similar trends and developments so as to provide a reliable forecast for travel and tourism in 2017.
