Travellers boycott Trump hotels

High-end travellers are turning off the Trump brand. Photo / iStock

Donald Trump's presidential campaign may have an unexpected downside, as cashed-up travellers boycott his hotels.

A survey conducted by Forbes with consulting firm Penn Schoen Berland found that 45 per cent of the 500 surveyed US residents, who earned at least US$200,000 ($294,841) annually, said they would avoid staying at a Trump-branded hotel or visiting a Trump-branded golf course over the next four years.

Of this 45 per cent, an astounding 77 per cent said they would avoid Trump's businesses specifically to protest his campaign.

To make matters worse, only a mere 7 per cent of respondents said they would make a specific point to visit a Trump-branded hotel or golf course over the next four years.

Respondents were fairly evenly divided when it came to political affiliations, with 156 identified as Democrats, 172 Republicans, and 172 independents.

"The fact that we have nearly half of these people saying they are going to avoid going to a property tells us that that net [of customers] has been restricted," David James, senior vice president at Penn Schoen Berland told Forbes.

"It leads us to believe that the net of people he can pull from is getting so small that the demand is going to go down. Charging premiums is going to be counter-productive."

While Trump's son Eric Trump quickly dismissed the findings, these attitudes could go beyond the individual traveller, as 69 per cent of respondents said they were very likely or somewhat likely to select or influence personal travel for four or more people.

A further 35 per cent said they were somewhat or very likely to select or influence business travel for four or more people.

- nzherald.co.nz