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The article neglects to mention the huge drop in international visits to the U.S. in recent years. Quoting a USA Today article from last week: U.S. visits as a

The article neglects to mention the huge drop in international visits to the U.S. in recent years. Quoting a USA Today article from last week: U.S. visits as a portion of total global travel fell to 11.7% last year from a high of 13.7% in 2015, according to the travel group and Oxford Economics. That has resulted in losses to the U.S. economy of 14 million international visitors, $59 billion in traveler spending and 120,000 U.S. jobs. Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/09/travel-international-visits-u-s-forecast-keep-falling/1942922001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/09/travel-inter... I know Disneyland and Disneyworld have traditionally been popular destinations for foreign tourists; it's reasonable to assume that if overall international travel is down the number of foreign visitors to the parks is also down, even before factoring in the high prices everyone has to pay to get into the parks.

stevenjohns 7y ago
> The article neglects to mention the huge drop in international visits to the U.S. in recent years. Quoting a USA Today article from last week: Part of this might be the ever-stronger US dollar. Five years ago, AUD$1 would buy about USD$0.94. Now it buys USD$0.68, making the trip to the US about a third more expensive.
- tortarga 7y ago
  US dollar is pretty much steady against the Euro from 2016 levels. The AUD fall is because of our mismanaged economy. The fall in US tourism can better be attributed to Trump trashing America's foreign image.
  - Supermancho 7y ago
    > The fall in US tourism can better be attributed to Trump trashing America's foreign image Can it? Disneyland continues to increase prices. Galaxy's Edge is basically one big store hocking overpriced trinkets. I used to go to Disneyland every week for lunch in high school (I've always lived about 15 minutes from it). Business meetings were casually scheduled and held at the Blue Bayou until the yearly pass pricing doubled at the turn of the millennium. Now, I can't even rationalize going for fun, much less purchasing food in the park. Inflation, price hikes and taxation has steadily priced many things out of affordability, in California.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    As if most tourists care for politics? Changing trends in tourism and financial issues are far more likely reasons...
    - joezydeco 7y ago
      You can't rule out the horror stories of foreign travelers being harassed and abused at US border checkpoints. I'm inclined to think it's had a chilling effect when tourists are making their holiday choices. It's pretty easy to skip the USA and find another destination.
      - coldtea 7y ago
        We've been hearing those stories way more in the Bush era when that became a thing, and even in the Obama era, with various TSA related news (several harassment stories have been posted on HN over the years too) -- and yet even during Bush's years arrivals year rising (click: "max" to see from 2000 or so): https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals If anything, despite some stagnation, the trend is more or less the same and still rising in 2017 and 2018 (click "5 years"): https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals
    - rfrey 7y ago
      As a previously frequent tourist to the US, I assure you politics is an important consideration for me and my family. Many people of my acquaintance have also taken politics into account when making vacation plans. I’m not aware of any studies on this, so anecdote is all I have. But for me, it’s “obvious” that politics is a factor rather than “obvious” that tourists only think of trends and exchange rates. In fact, it’s now common (at least in my circle) for people to plan vacations to avoid changing planes in the USA, because of the delays in customs and the risks of missing connections or being denied entry to the US (required in the USA even if you never leave the transfer area).
      - Taniwha 7y ago
  - torified 7y ago
    You're getting downvoted but it's true. I'm in Australia and the US is out of my holiday plans. Get treated like a criminal at the border to go to a country with a racist buffoon in charge, validating all the racists there. Thanks but no thanks. America is an amazing country, I've been all across it before, and so vast that I can see why some are happy to only travel domestically and not bother with other countries. But I'll wait until it hopefully settles down a bit before I think about going back. Also the guns. I don't feel safer when every idiot and his dog has assault weapons. There's much frendlier "shitholes" in the world to visit.
    - RomanBob 7y ago
      as opposed to countries where only government approved idiots and their dogs have assault weapons?
      - torified 7y ago
        Yes, definitely.
adventured 7y ago
Disneyland is in California of course. Your premise falls apart when you examine California's tourist numbers. For California: "In 2017, tourism recorded an eighth straight year of growth, setting records in travel spending, jobs and tax revenue." "Sustained growth continued in Visit California’s 13 international markets, with 17.6 million international visitors (+1.7% YOY) spending $26.5 billion in the state (+5.1% YOY)" "2018 Travel-Related Spend $140b, +5.4% year over year" https://industry.visitcalifornia.com/ https://industry.visitcalifornia.com/

stevenjohns 7y ago

> The article neglects to mention the huge drop in international visits to the U.S. in recent years. Quoting a USA Today article from last week: Part of this might be the ever-stronger US dollar. Five years ago, AUD$1 would buy about USD$0.94. Now it buys USD$0.68, making the trip to the US about a third more expensive.

tortarga 7y ago
US dollar is pretty much steady against the Euro from 2016 levels. The AUD fall is because of our mismanaged economy. The fall in US tourism can better be attributed to Trump trashing America's foreign image.
- Supermancho 7y ago
  > The fall in US tourism can better be attributed to Trump trashing America's foreign image Can it? Disneyland continues to increase prices. Galaxy's Edge is basically one big store hocking overpriced trinkets. I used to go to Disneyland every week for lunch in high school (I've always lived about 15 minutes from it). Business meetings were casually scheduled and held at the Blue Bayou until the yearly pass pricing doubled at the turn of the millennium. Now, I can't even rationalize going for fun, much less purchasing food in the park. Inflation, price hikes and taxation has steadily priced many things out of affordability, in California.
- coldtea 7y ago
  As if most tourists care for politics? Changing trends in tourism and financial issues are far more likely reasons...
  - joezydeco 7y ago
    You can't rule out the horror stories of foreign travelers being harassed and abused at US border checkpoints. I'm inclined to think it's had a chilling effect when tourists are making their holiday choices. It's pretty easy to skip the USA and find another destination.
    - coldtea 7y ago
      We've been hearing those stories way more in the Bush era when that became a thing, and even in the Obama era, with various TSA related news (several harassment stories have been posted on HN over the years too) -- and yet even during Bush's years arrivals year rising (click: "max" to see from 2000 or so): https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals If anything, despite some stagnation, the trend is more or less the same and still rising in 2017 and 2018 (click "5 years"): https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals
  - rfrey 7y ago
    As a previously frequent tourist to the US, I assure you politics is an important consideration for me and my family. Many people of my acquaintance have also taken politics into account when making vacation plans. I’m not aware of any studies on this, so anecdote is all I have. But for me, it’s “obvious” that politics is a factor rather than “obvious” that tourists only think of trends and exchange rates. In fact, it’s now common (at least in my circle) for people to plan vacations to avoid changing planes in the USA, because of the delays in customs and the risks of missing connections or being denied entry to the US (required in the USA even if you never leave the transfer area).
    - Taniwha 7y ago
- torified 7y ago
  You're getting downvoted but it's true. I'm in Australia and the US is out of my holiday plans. Get treated like a criminal at the border to go to a country with a racist buffoon in charge, validating all the racists there. Thanks but no thanks. America is an amazing country, I've been all across it before, and so vast that I can see why some are happy to only travel domestically and not bother with other countries. But I'll wait until it hopefully settles down a bit before I think about going back. Also the guns. I don't feel safer when every idiot and his dog has assault weapons. There's much frendlier "shitholes" in the world to visit.
  - RomanBob 7y ago
    as opposed to countries where only government approved idiots and their dogs have assault weapons?
    - torified 7y ago
      Yes, definitely.

adventured 7y ago

Disneyland is in California of course. Your premise falls apart when you examine California's tourist numbers. For California: "In 2017, tourism recorded an eighth straight year of growth, setting records in travel spending, jobs and tax revenue." "Sustained growth continued in Visit California’s 13 international markets, with 17.6 million international visitors (+1.7% YOY) spending $26.5 billion in the state (+5.1% YOY)" "2018 Travel-Related Spend $140b, +5.4% year over year" https://industry.visitcalifornia.com/ https://industry.visitcalifornia.com/