Trade dispute could reduce tourism to US

A decline in Chinese travel to the United States has garnered diverse opinions on its causes from experts and industry insiders.

According to the US National Travel and Tourism Office, which collects data from US Customs forms, travel from China to the US declined 5.7 percent last year to 2.9 million visitors. This is the first time since 2003 that Chinese travel to the US has dropped from the previous year.

There has been a decline in the number of visitors from the Chinese mainland, said Jonathan Liu, assistant president of America Asia Travel Center, a travel agency headquartered in Monterey Park, California.