AUSTRALIANS could bag themselves a bargain holiday in the United States this year — thanks to Donald Trump.

American hotels and airlines are slashing their prices to attract customers, after tourism slumped following the reality star’s election as president in January, according to the head of Expedia.

As reported in The Sun, Dara Khosrowshahi, the online travel company’s chief executive, warned holiday-makers would be put off travelling to the US thanks to Mr Trump’s tough immigration policies, as well as the strong dollar.

As a result, he said, hotels, resorts and airlines would most likely have to drop their prices to convince tourists to book a trip.

“One of two things is going to happen. Either the US has to go on sale in order to keep volumes up, or volumes are going to come down,” Mr Khosrowshahi told the Financial Times.

“When we look at our business, the leading indicator is pricing — pricing has come down.”

International travel to the US was reportedly down by 6.5 per cent compared to last year during the first week after the president’s first attempt at the ban in January.

During that period, the travel software company ForwardKeys also found that reservations for flights to the US fell by 14 per cent from Western Europe and 38 per cent from the Middle East.

United, Delta and American Airlines all saw a dip in revenue passenger miles — the basic amount of “production” that an airline creates — in February, when compared to the same month in the previous year.

The travel guide Frommers has predicted that the numbers of foreign tourists visiting the US will decline by 6.8 per cent this year.

If the slump continues, holiday-makers are likely to see lower prices for hotel rooms in popular American tourist destinations like Florida and Hawaii. Travellers could also see some very good deals on holidays by the end of the year.

The election has been good for some tourist spots, though. According to reports, the Statue of Liberty has seen a surge in visitor numbers since Mr Trump’s election.

The New York Times reports the number of people boarding boats that sail to the iconic statue has gone up by 15 per cent in February compared to the same time last year.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.