Is Donald Trump's presidential campaign ruining his hotel business?

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This was published 7 years ago

Is Donald Trump's presidential campaign ruining his hotel business?

By Hugh Morris
Updated
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It's becoming increasingly difficult to remember that Donald Trump was in fact of woman born in the 1940s and has since enjoyed a full life of love, laughter and gainful employment, and wasn't, as some seem to presume, sent to us in 69-year-old, savannah-haired form by Kang and Kodos to bring the planet Earth to its knees.

The point is that Trump is more than the political sawn-off that 2015/16 has shown him to be. He is a property magnate and owner of a hotel and golf course empire that stretches around the world, from Chicago to County Clare, New York to Waikiki, with Rio, Vancouver and Washington all in the pipeline.

However, it looks like his drive to become leader of the free world is doing his hospitality operation more harm than good.

Donald Trump's presidential campaign looks to be doing his hotels more harm than good.

Donald Trump's presidential campaign looks to be doing his hotels more harm than good.Credit: Bloomberg

According to a survey of more than 2000 Americans by travel website Skift, more than half (56.9 per cent) said they were less likely to stay in one of Trump's hotels thanks to his presidential campaign.

On the flip side, nearly a quarter (23.4 per cent) said they were more likely to stay in one of his hotels because of his xenophobic, misogynistic crusade. The remainder were unaware he even had any hotels – not even the flagship Trump Tower in New York, which our reviewer gave a rating of 9/10 and said offers "no half measures".

See also: As tasteless as the man himself? Inside the Trump hotel

The poll found that women were more likely than men to avoid his establishments, which include the 24-carot gold-gilded Trump Hotel Las Vegas, and men more likely than women to have an increased desire to stay the night.

This is not the first suggestion that Trump hotels might face a struggle filling their rooms now that Trump has his eyes on the White House.

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After he called for a blanket ban on Muslims entering the US, it was reported that Khlalaf Al Habtoor, a self-made billionaire whose UAE-based conglomerate built Dubai's airport, renounced his backing of Trump.

Indeed Lucy Lawless, the actress who played Xena Warrior Princess, said at the same time that she used to stay in Trump hotels but would "never again" and called for other to join her boycott.

In February this year, Bloomberg reported that a variety of Trump's ventures around the world were unsuccessfully weathering a range of storms, from disappointing returns, unhappy business partners, and unpopular branding.

See also: Do travel boycotts really work?

Closer to home, Trump's reputation in Scotland, Aberdeenshire, to be precise, where the magnate built a controversial golf course is pretty much at rock bottom. Alex Salmond said of Trump: "What we were promised was billions of dollars and thousands of jobs. [Trump is] not in the sane spectrum."

Trump's rise to infamy has also prompted Lastminute.com, the travel booking website, to offer refunds to any guests who book a room in a hotel, but then discovers that the Republican in also staying there at the same time.

"Our primary goal is to ensure that our customers have the option of a quick exit to more tranquil Trump-free surroundings if they wish so," a spokesperson said.

A poll taken by The Telegraph, London found that 50 per cent of readers would not wish to stay in the same building as the man. Almost a third said they would - but as long as he picked up the bill.

That Trump has plans to open five properties in Muslim-majority countries, including Dubai, Bali and Azerbaijan, does not necessarily bode well for business, if he maintains a position not entirely favourable to Muslims.

It remains to be seen whether Trump's hotel business will collapse in on itself whether he wins or loses the presidential race, but with a good six months to go before the election, we can bet he'll say plenty of offensive things that may well tip the scale.

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