Scots "less likely" to visit US in wake of Trump election

Scots travellers are less likely to visit America since Donald Trump was elected as president, but remain divided on whether Brexit has made them more or less likely to travel to countries within the European Union, a poll has revealed.

Scots are less likely to travel to the US since Donald Trump's election.

The presidential election has prompted 31 per cent of Scots - the third highest proportion of all UK regions - to say they would be less likely to visit the US this year compared to last year.

However, when it came to visiting the EU post-Brexit, 21 per cent of Scots say they would be less lkely to do so, while an identical number claim they would be more likely to make a European trip.

Scotland voted in favour of staying within the EU in the June referendum, with 62 per cent of people north of the border voting “remain” to the question as to whether or not Britain should leave.

However, no regions of Great Britain were net more likely to travel to the USA when compared with those who are net ‘less likely’ to travel, according to the poll, carried out by YouGov and commissioned by Airport Parking and Hotels (APH) as part of its International Quarterly Travel Report.

John Lennon, director of the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “Outbound to America from Scotland is not an enormous market, so it is not going to collapse the American economy.

“Other factors may be at play here, such as the weakness of the pound against the dollar, which has rallied fairly well since Trump’s election.”

The staycation market within the UK is set to benefit most from travellers’s reticence to visit further afield, the report said, with 33 per cent of Brits saying they were more likely to holiday at home.

Professor Lennon added: “Scotland will enjoy some positives as a result of, from both staycations and inbound tourism from Europe and the US, who are finding things cheaper here than they were.”

UK-wide, the study reveals age plays an important role in the popularity of European holidays. With the majority of younger people voting to remain in the EU, data from the survey shows these travellers enthusiastically embracing the Continent, with 44 per cent of 18-24-year-olds saying they’re ‘more likely’ to visit Europe than they were 12 months ago.

In contrast, those aged over 55 - who were more likely to vote “leave” in the referendum, were more 25 per cent less likely to travel to Europe than they were this time last year.

The report said: “Despite returning an emphatic poll-heading 62 per cent vote to remain within the EU, Scottish respondents appeared to show indifference to subsequent European travel, with the region no ‘more’ or ‘less’ likely to visit the Continent compared with this time last year.

“Both the ‘more’ and ‘less’ camps returned a 21 per cent vote, with 54 per cent saying ‘no change’.”

The report found that British women feel much ‘less likely’ to travel to the US than males – with almost one-in-three taking a negative stance compared with 12 months ago. In comparison, just under one-in-four British men said they’d now be ‘less likely’ to visit the US.