Travel industry leaders around the world are bracing themselves for the fallout of the Trump tariffs, and even more so in Asia, where most countries have been lumped into the 'worst offenders' bucket and are facing what BBC described as 'truly remarkable' tariffs.

Could intra-Asia travel provide a soft landing?

Other than Singapore, which faces the base rate of 10%, countries in the region have been hit with tariffs ranging from 17% (the Philippines) to 24% (Japan and Malaysia), 32% (Taiwan and Indonesia), 36% (Thailand), 46% (Vietnam), 49% (Cambodia) and China (54%) – a move which the BBC said, “will break the business models of thousands of companies, factories and possibly entire nations.”

There is no doubt that this biggest change to global trade in 100 years will have ripple effects across industries, including global travel on several levels – and Asia’s travel industry will not be unscathed. It impacts every sector of travel, from leisure to corporate and conferences and exhibitions.

Says Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, principal of T2Impact, a Seattle-based travel tech consulting firm, “Travel and tourism rely on a safe environment. Whether that be for business or pleasure. Trump’s tariffs are a devastating blow to the world economy and that will have a double whammy effect on our sector, perhaps even a triple. Effect #1 – pure economics, there is less money to spend on travel. Effect #2 – travel to and from USA will be impacted by fear. Effect #3, retaliation and restrictions in reality by border controls.”

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