President Trump’s decision to ban citizens of seven mainly Muslim nations from visiting the US has “cast a shadow” over the country’s tourism industry.

That’s according to Euromonitor, the market intelligence provider, which claims Donald Trump’s protectionist policies and controversial travel ban is likely to have negative implications for tourism in the US.

“The ambiguity of these very latest developments introduced by President Trump is casting a shadow over the future travel demand to and from the US,” said Nadejda Popova, travel project manager at Euromonitor.

It could be a bumpy road ahead for US tourism Credit: Kylie McLaughlin

“The new executive order could also impact how the US is perceived as a tourism destination and how open to foreign travellers it will be in the future.”

Worsening relations with Mexico, with Trump planning to build a wall between the two nations, could further impact America’s travel appeal. Not least among Mexicans, who represent the second largest market for inbound arrivals in the US, after Canadians.

While Trump’s travel ban is unprecedented, history hints that his executive order could have far-reaching implications for tourism in the US.

“We have seen negative perceptions impact tourism to the US in the past, particularly around the time of the invasion of Iraq and the post-9/11 ramping up of border security,” said a spokesperson for the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

After 9/11, US Congress passed the USA Patriot Act, which amended US immigration laws and impacted the passage of travellers by introducing in-person interviews for visa applicants and biometric procedures (fingerprints and photos) at borders.

This had a huge impact on America’s tourism industry. According to the US Department of Commerce, between 2000 and 2009, global interna­tional tourist receipts grew by more than 87 per cent to $889 billion per year, while for the US receipts increased by just 13 per cent.

Telegraph Travel made requests to Skyscanner and Booking.com for data on flight and hotel bookings since the president introduced the travel ban. Both have so far been unable to assist with our enquiries.

However, according to the WTTC, bookings to the US are already faltering.

“There have been reports that flight inquiries from Europe to the US have been down 30 per cent since the inauguration of President Trump,” said a spokesperson.

Telegraph Travel this week reported that Trump’s latest hotel venture, the Trump International Hotel Washington DC, recorded losses of more than $1million (£800,000) within two months of opening.

Thailand has signaled that it expects to gain from the US travel ban Credit: ALAMY

Already other destinations are rubbing their hands at the prospect of holidaymakers shunning the US. According to Reuters, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) believes the ban could provide a boost to the Asian nation. It expects arrivals from the Middle East to increase by eight per cent in the first quarter of 2017, compared to last year.

“The Middle East is a big market for us,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). “They may choose to visit Thailand more and this may also boost our sector.”

According to the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI), Muslim travellers comprised 10 per cent of the global travel market in 2014, spending $145 billion. In the same year, the US welcomed 2.6 million Muslim travellers, accounting for 3.7 per cent of arrivals.

According to Crescent Rating, the company behind the report, Muslim travellers will be worth $200 billion to the global economy by 2020. On current form the US looks unlikely to benefit much from that growth.

“There are many destinations that are aggressively targeting the Muslim travellers in an effort to not lose out on this growing segment,” said Fazal Bahardeen, Crescent Rating’s CEO.

“Muslims will continue to spend their money in places that they are welcome. At the last count there were plenty of cities ready to welcome them.”