Fewer People Are Staying In Trump Hotels, Say Travel Agents

When Donald Trump officially began running for president back in June of 2015, many hypothesized that it was all an elaborate publicity stunt designed to help his business ventures. Now, less than two weeks from election day, it seems that this campaign may be having the opposite effect on at least one of his businesses. According to a Travel Weekly survey of 1,100 travel agents across the U.S., agents have seen a marked decline in the number of travelers booking rooms at Trump's hotel properties. To be fair, around 61% of those surveyed also admitted to recommending these hotels less than they might have prior to Trump's campaign. But it's not just the travel agents who have soured on Trump hotels. Travel Weekly also reports that "just over half of the agents said that their clients have told them they are not interested in staying at Trump-branded properties." There seem to be a few specific reasons for the decline in interest in these hotels. The survey showed that the number of people pointedly requesting not to stay in a Trump property increased after the Access Hollywood hot mic scandal. Last week on CBS This Morning, Arnie Weissmann, editor-in-chief of Travel Weekly, noted that "The majority of travel agents are women, and travel decisions are made overwhelmingly by women." That scandal reinforced the notion that Trump is disrespectful of (and allegedly dangerous to) women, so if more women are now averse to staying in his hotels, we can't say that's shocking. However you may feel about Trump, his politics, or his attitude toward women, there's another factor to consider for travelers: As Travel + Leisure points out, his hotels have increasingly become protest sites, which could certainly impact guests' overall experience. We'll have to wait and see how Trump's hotel business fares once this election is behind us. Regardless, we're happy staying at these hotels instead.