San Diego Tourism: Cancelled By the World

The Free Trips to El Salvador Don’t Seem to Have Appeal

The Trump administration is failing and the finding out part has barely begun. Yes, they’re becoming more authoritarian by the day. With the “100 Days” marker just ahead, they’re going to double down on everything; maybe the President will even pardon George Santos.

The worst part is how much the press has decided to obey in advance. The judge arrested in Milwaukee –no comment on the facts of the case here for now– was a staged event for the press. Nobody even questioned the need for a “perp” walk shared by the Attorney General of the US on social media.

The best part is how Americans are beginning to rise against the challenges to democracy being thrown our way. My little part in all this is the weekly local guide to acts of resistance on Thursdays, which has single handedly doubled and even tripled my readership.

We’ve yet to see the ever-increasing penalties American consumers will be paying for groceries and household goods. All those empty container ships off China’s East coast are signs of what is to come.

We’ll be paying more and getting less in return, because what is also emptying are planes headed here from overseas.

For the purposes of today’s post, I’ll gloss over the incompetence and malice of the Trump administration to focus on what’s about to happen with the tourism industry.

Last week, President Trump claimed that a noticeable decline in visitors was “not a big deal”, despite the threats to the economy.

“I could see a little bit [of] nationalism at work,” Trump said. Asked if people were “scared” to come to the US, the president said: “No. We treat our tourists great. We’re the tourism capital of the world. There’s nobody – no place like this.”

Canada, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and Portugal have all issued travel advisories for their citizens concerning travel to the US.

The United States has issued a sweeping update to its global travel advisories, warning citizens of increased risks in several high-interest destinations across Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and West Africa. Countries named include Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Russia, and Ghana.

A few facts to add local flavor for this posting:

• Tourism is the second-largest sector of San Diego's economy.

• 32 million visitors spent a record $14.6 billion in San Diego in FY 2024, with $23.4 billion in regional economic impact.

• One in eight jobs in San Diego is connected to the tourism industry; that’s 214,000 people in the area.

• The regional tourism industry generated over $1 billion in tax revenue in 2024, with $360 million in hotel occupancy taxes, $310 million of which came from the City of San Diego alone.

• In 2023, the most international tourists to San Diego were from Mexico (6.94 million visitors), Canada (1.76 million), the United Kingdom (751,000), and China (492,000).

Nationally:

• According to industry publication Travel and Tour World, US tourism is facing a “catastrophic” ninety billion dollar loss. OR…

• Jukka Laitamaki, professor of international hospitality and tourism at New York University, estimates that the economic impact of Trump’s war on tourism could cost the country as much as $120 billion this year. (Via Public Notice)

• “The Canadian, German, and UK travel advisories will have a significant impact on the US tourism economy,” Laitamaki recently told Newsweek. “Together with Mexico, these three countries counted for 56 percent of the 77.7 million international tourist arrivals in 2024. Due to the 'detained tourists' effect the impact of these travel advisories will accelerate spread across the European Union and other countries.”

• Angered by Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric, along with being alarmed by reports of tourists being arrested at the border, citizens of other countries are staying away from the U.S. and choosing to travel elsewhere.

• Canadians returning from visits to the US by land plunged 31.9% year-over-year in March, while air arrivals fell 13.5%. Overseas visitor arrivals to the US in March contracted 11.6%, with particularly sharp declines from Germany and the UK. Air visitors from Mexico fell 23.0% in March.

• Canada was the largest source of US visitors in 2024, topping more than 20.2 million arrivals. Canadian arrivals in the US declined by 12.3% in February, and that’s before Trump’s tariffs were announced and unannounced and announced again.

• Until April of this year, Canadians were allowed to stay in the US for up to six months at a time without a visa. Now, 11 they have to register with U.S. immigration authorities if they intend to stay for more than 30 days.

California’s chief executive of the Lodging and Hotel Association is blaming Canadian nationalism for any changes in that country’s tourist visits to the US in 2025.

See how Trump symps suck up?

Oh, and those domestic tourists San Diego brings in for the fourth of July are likely to be disappointed.

Via the Washington Post:

• Almost all of the fireworks that Americans purchase for personal use are made in China; three-quarters of the pyrotechnics featured in more elaborate community celebrations are Chinese.

• In 2019, recognizing the lack of domestic production, Trump exempted the industry from his first China tariffs.

• This time, however, he has not granted a similar waiver, leaving scores of small businesses facing crippling extra costs. Importers who cannot afford 145 percent taxes have told their Chinese suppliers to freeze shipments, which could mean some consumer favorites for celebrating the July Fourth holiday this year will be hard to find, said Blake, Schneitter Fireworks’ co-owner.

I predict the local Lords of the Hospitality Industry will start to make a fuss once their hotels don’t have a summer boost. Hot tip– It’s already too late. People’s leisure travel habits –like any other consumer item— don’t just snap back after a shortage.

Trump Is Enacting Structural Eugenics by Qasim Rashid at Let’s Address This

• You may not have heard the term Structural Eugenics before, but sadly we live at a time where it’s critical we know what it means, and what it looks like. Because MAGA and Trump are showing us what Structural Eugenics looks like—and it is horrifying.

• MAGA Republicans are tracking autism, menstrual cycles, criticism of Trump, criticism of Israel, Trans people, and anyone who even dares whisper DEI—but NOT vaccination rates, measles spread, COVID deaths, firearm proliferation, firearm deaths, bird flu cases, people killed by law enforcement, climate change, or food regulations.

• This is an unholy recipe for fascism and national disaster. This will kill is already killing people—and I fear that’s the MAGA goal. Let’s Address This.

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Tesla is Toxic. Now what? By Evan Sutton at Ctrl Alt Right Delete

• Tesla is still Musk’s only liquid asset, and the money he uses to assault our democracy is borrowed against his shares of Tesla.

• We can’t stop until all of that changes. So what’s next?

• On Thursday, #TeslaTakedown launched a new initiative to pressure cities and states to divest from Tesla and Musk’s companies.

• Local organizers are expanding the field with creative actions like free Tesla de-badging stations, hilarious satire campaigns, pressuring Tesla board members and protesting at trade shows.

• If you haven’t come out yet, please join us. There are around 150 actions every week, all over the United States (and Europe).

• If there’s not one near you, create one! All you need is a place, a sign and a few friends.

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Trump’s Attack on ActBlue Just Blew Up in His Face by Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling at The New Republic

• The Trump administration’s decision to target ActBlue has instead resulted in the left-leaning platform’s biggest fundraising day of the year.

• On Thursday, Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate the online donations platform, directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into Republican allegations that ActBlue had allowed “‘straw’ or ‘dummy’ contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees.” ActBlue is a crucial fundraising tool for Democrats, as almost all party candidates use it in both primary and general elections.

• The announcement inspired donors across the country to open their wallets, handing the Democratic Party a massive financial boost as some PACs more than quadrupled their fundraising within 24 hours of Trump’s memorandum.

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Don’t Miss the Book Release Party for Sunshine Noir III

Since I’ve got you reading this far, it’s time for me to promote an event related to the publication of Sunshine Noir III, an anthology of writings of and for people in this region on both sides of the border.

• It explores San Diego and Tijuana’s border culture; the city’s multiple identities and lost history; the region’s natural beauty and endangered ecologies; its role as a center of the culture of war; and San Diego and Tijuana writers’ attempts to explore the meaning of place.

And yes, it’s true; I am part of this group. At least it says so on the website. I had a chapter about my time in the underground press in Sunshine Noir II, and this anthology includes a bit about living in an OB hippie house in 1969, where dope got you through times of no money better than money getting you through times of no dope.

The Big Release party for Sunshine Noir III will be 5-8pm on May 3 at the Centro Cultural de la Raza (2004 Park Blvd, Balboa Park, https://centrodelaraza.com

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