Intrepid chief criticises Trump’s ‘utterly abhorrent’ travel bans

Intrepid Travel chief executive James Thornton has described the travel bans announced by Donald Trump as “utterly abhorrent”, adding that bookings to the country had already dropped by 15% year on year following the US president’s return to office.

Citizens of 12 countries will be prevented from entering the US, with another seven countries facing partial restrictions.

Thornton said the bans “go against Intrepid’s values” and predicted US visitor numbers from elsewhere would be negatively impacted.

“I think the outcome will be that the US as a destination will suffer – we’ll see fewer people travel to the US – and other more inclusive and tolerant countries will benefit from more tourists visiting their destinations,” he said.

Intrepid’s dip in US bookings has been sharper among younger travellers, with the 18-35 programme 25% down year on year since Trump’s return to the White House in January.

“Our younger travellers are shunning the US as a destination and travelling elsewhere instead,” Thornton said, adding that there were also other factors at play beyond perceptions of Trump, such as the cost of living crisis.

He went on to note that the US remains an “amazing destination”, highlighting that Intrepid has introduced two ‘Active-ism’ trips this month to support the country’s national parks amid budget cuts.

If UK travel agents are finding it challenging to sell US trips at the moment, Thornton said they should take the opportunity to promote alternative destinations.

“It might be a time to look at exploring other destinations, so travel agents could potentially promote and advertise other parts of the world. There are many other wonderful countries out there as well,” he added.

Intrepid’s UK bookings were 15% up year on year to the end of May, he said, with trade sales outperforming direct.