Election 2024: The Issues That Matter For Travel

04.11.2024 - 22:47 / skift.com / Antony Blinken / Donald Trump / Gina Raimondo / Lex Haris / Geoff Ballotti / Richard Verma

Will the time it takes to get a visa to travel to the U.S. continue to come down? How will a new administration evaluate potential deals? More travel bans coming? 

The race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is essentially tied heading into election day and we don’t know when a winner will be called. But there will be a new president next January and a wide range of implications for the travel industry. 

And even before that point, no matter who wins, you can expect a short-term travel slowdown in the weeks around the election. Marriott noted that’s always the case, but that it’s much more pronounced this cycle – the adverse impact on revenue per available room is about double what it has been in past election cycles. Delta, United and JetBlue have said they expect travel to slow down around Election Day, in line with historic trends. 

As for the long-term, both candidates have a record to guide us in thinking through the potential impact. Of course, Harris would have her own set of priorities as president that could differ from those of the past four years. 

Travel company CEOs have kept mostly quiet about politics this season. But they’re clear about one thing: They want travelers to keep coming to the U.S. and to make it as seamless as possible. 

“There’s so much opportunity,” said Wyndham Hotels CEO Geoff Ballotti, referring to the growth that would come with bringing down barriers to travel. 

On that front, there’s been progress during the Biden-Harris administration.

The State Department expedited visitor visa application reviews to resolve the backlog built up during the pandemic. In 2023, it filled its consular positions back to pre-pandemic levels. And it used the visa interview waiver authority to allow its staff to remotely resolve “tens of thousands of applications each week.” 

At the Skift Global Forum in September, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma said the State Department has largely been able to get visa wait times back to pre-pandemic levels but acknowledged there’s more work to be done in some countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and India. He said wait times are affected by the strong demand for travel to the U.S. and America’s security concerns.

During the Trump administration, visa issuances had been declining even before the pandemic. The administration implemented more enhanced screening, vetting and denials of visa applicants from countries flagged for higher security concerns like China. International visitors dipped slightly in 2019, to 79.4 million. 

Now, the U.S. is on pace to attract 90 million visitors by 2026, a year ahead of the State Department’s goal, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said last week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said recently