Corporate America cheered President Donald Trump’s decision this week to delay tariffs on another round of imports from China, yet tension between the White House and Beijing is also disrupting a different kind of valuable arrival into the US. Tens of thousands of Chinese tourists are shunning the country as a holiday destination, and companies from Tiffany to Hyatt Hotels are counting the cost.
Tourists from China hold special appeal for US business because of how much they spend. Including the costs of flights and accommodation each one splurges on average $7,000 per visit, according to data cited by the US Travel Association.
After several years of double-digit growth, however, Chinese visitor numbers rose only 4 per cent in 2017 and last year they declined for the first time since 2003. There were 2.99m arrivals in 2018, a drop of 6 per cent from the previous year. The weakness is continuing this summer, according to leading US business executives, who say the slowdown is weighing on profits.