Chinese travelers drawn to US because of US politics, survey finds

Some international travelers are citing politics as a factor in whether to visit the U.S. this year, according to survey research by the tourism marketing agency Brand USA.

The findings add to existing concerns about the tourism industry. Other new data shows that a slowdown in international arrivals to the U.S. began last spring and continued through August, likely due to the strong U.S. dollar and sluggish economies elsewhere.

A survey for Brand USA asked travelers from 11 countries how the political climate influenced the likelihood of them visiting the U.S. in the next 12 months.

Those saying the political climate made them less likely to visit increased from December to February among travelers from every country surveyed but China.

Travelers from Mexico registered the most concern over political sentiment as a factor against visiting.

Travelers from Canada, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom and France registered moderate sensitivity over political sentiment.

Travelers from India, Japan, Brazil and South Korea were the least sensitive to the U.S. political climate as a factor against visiting, but their likelihood of visiting also decreased over the three-month period, just less dramatically than the others.

Chinese travelers were the only nationality in the survey who said the U.S. political climate made them more likely to visit.

Brand USA surveys typically provide a multiple-choice list of factors influencing travel plans. Last summer, respondents began writing in issues related to politics as a factor. "So we created a discreet option for that and began to measure that,'' Brand USA economist Carroll Rheem said in an interview.

When international travelers were asked in December and again in February "what if any impact the political climate has on their likelihood to visit the U.S. ... over the course of time we saw an increase in that as a reason for people being discouraged from visiting the U.S.,'' she said.-AP