Within the next six hours, the results of the 2016 US presidential election will most probably be known. So what will a win for either Trump or Clinton mean for the Australian travel industry?
On the economic front, a win for Trump could spell serious consequences for trade-focused economies such as Australia, as well as trigger stock market falls of five to 10 percent globally, according to experts.
A Trump victory could also cause the American dollar to fall too, which isn’t actually a bad thing for Aussies heading over to the USA anytime soon. Indeed, some experts are tipping the Australian dollar could soar to well over 90 cents against the greenback if Donald gets the keys to the White House, which would give Aussie travellers about 15 to 20 percent extra bang for their buck!
Source: www.people.com
Earlier this year, we saw the effects of the Brexit vote on the value of the Pound, which dropped a whopping 9.8 percent after the British public voted to leave the European Union, and gave travellers more money to play with in uber-expensive cities such as London.
But a drop in the US dollar won’t just mean more spending money for Aussie travellers. A weakened US dollar could also change the landscape of the Australian travel industry for the rest of the year and even perhaps well into 2017 by increasing the demand for USA bookings – which means more tours, more air tickets and more hotel rooms for Travel Agents to book.
Such a result would run on the back of Los Angeles recently being named in the top 10 cities around the world in 2017 by Lonely Planet. The City of Angeles is also currently in the midst of a massive hotel renaissance, with 30 new hotels opening up in L.A. over the next three years.
Source: www.nydailynews.com
On the other hand, a win for Clinton in the US presidential election will lead to a more stable transition into the next presidency, and we’ll likely experience more of the same in the next four years. Although the US dollar may drop with a less than convincing win for Hillary, it’s likely to remain stable (subject to world events).
When it comes to Australia’s long-standing alliance with the USA, both candidates are actually pretty similar in their commitments to keep the relationship moving along nicely. And that’s great news for Aussies, as we’re kind of in love with our brothers and sisters across the Pacific: the US is officially our third favourite destination after New Zealand and Indonesia.
Assuming no major policy changes by either candidate, Australians should be able to keep taking advantage of the special Aussie-only E-3 work visa which allows us to live and work in the USA for a couple of years in pursuit of our own American dream.
But we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the next few days as one of the most controversial and heated election campaigns ever comes to its dramatic conclusion.
Stay tuned to KarryOn for developments as they arise…
