Cell phone data shows Trump's trade policies are hurting more than just Canadian tourism - Business Insider
The economic effects of President Donald Trump's disruptive approach to foreign policy are coming into sharper focus with a year's worth of data.As expected, a range of numbers like border crossings and hotel bookings show how Trump's trade war has killed off a large segment of Canadian tourism.But new analysis from the University of Toronto's School of Cities now shows that other areas of the economy have taken a major hit as well.Using cell phone data, researchers Karen Chapple, Yihoi Jung, and Jeff Allen documented an average year-over-year decline in Canadian visits to US cities of approximately 42%. That's a much larger hit than the 25% drop previously estimated based on border crossing data."The top 20 cities were a number of big metros that aren't exactly known as, you know, big tourist areas," Chapple told Business Insider.While the drop-offs in Las Vegas and Orlando could reasonably be attributed to less tourism, major commercial hubs like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Houston also saw significant declines.