As the new US president makes massive governmental cuts, issues tariffs and leads an immigration crackdown, domestic and international tourism faces unprecedented changes.

In the United States, a new presidential administration always comes with policy shifts. But the dizzying speed with which President Donald Trump has issued executive orders and made sweeping federal changes during the first month of his second term has much of the world wondering what the long-term impacts of these changes might be, and what else is yet to come.

By threatening and instituting tariffs on longtime allies, moving to overhaul the US immigration system, promising "mass deportations" and empowering unelected billionaire Elon Musk to fire thousands of federal employees and potentially shutter entire agencies established by Congress, Trump has come out swinging in his second act. And while these policy shifts are likely to have far-reaching social, political and economic implications, experts say they will also have a huge impact on the US travel industry.

"From immigration rules to trade wars, these changes will make travel to and within the US a lot more complicated and way less appealing. It's like putting up a giant 'Do not enter' sign just as the world is getting back into full travel mode," said Kristin Winkaffe, founder of travel firm Winkaffe Global Travel. "If you make it harder for people to get visas, fewer people will come – it's that simple."

This already appears to be playing out with the US's northerly neighbour. As Trump continues to threaten tariffs against Canada, even proposing annexing the entire nation, some Canadians have started boycotting US travel. The US Travel Association has warned that a 10% reduction in Canadian visits could result in more than $2bn in lost spending and 14,000 job losses.

Yet, the new administration remains confident that its policy shifts will benefit travellers. "President Trump has entrusted this team to work tirelessly to reaffirm American's [sic] complete confidence in the safety of our transportation systems," newly appointed US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. "Our focus remains on ushering in a golden age of transportation while prioritizing the Department's core mission of safety and delivering innovative projects that move America."

While the full scale of Trump's policy changes are yet to be seen, experts and travel professionals are keeping a close eye on the specific ways they may reshape travel. We spoke to some of them to find out how these impacts might affect domestic and international travellers.

Perhaps no mode of travel has been more scrutinised in recent weeks than the aviation industry. In the past month, four fatal plane crashes in the US have led confidence in air travel to drop from 71% of Americans believing air travel is safe in January 2025, to 64% in February, according to a recent AP survey.

Trump's recent policy changes aren't likely to improve this number. Air traffic control staffing was already under pressure nationwide and has been indicated as the cause of near-misses. Yet, even after investigations into the recent crash in Washington DC that killed 67 passengers found that air traffic control staffing was not at normal levels, Trump's administration began firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees last week. He has also fired the heads of the Transportation Security........

© BBC