Like many Washington lobby groups, the US Travel Association (USTA) was quick to congratulate the new president on his victory last November.

“We are encouraged that Mr Trump’s extensive business and hospitality background… will make him a ready and receptive ear,” the trade organisation said. Upon the Republican’s inauguration, the USTA’s chief executive, Roger Dow, pledged the industry as a “capable, willing partner.”

But almost immediately, things started to go sideways. A steady drumbeat of news and policy proclamations seemed likely to damage America’s $250 billion travel industry and its roughly 15 million US employees.

Initial contacts between Trump and leaders of Australia, Germany, Mexico and China didn’t go well, resulting in negative publicity in countries that send lots of travellers to America. Then came the majority Muslim nation travel bans, with protests and news coverage that made for a global public relations disaster. The first ban, since suspended by the courts, resulted in the detention of foreign travellers. The second, changed from the first, was frozen before it could take effect. Trump is appealing.

Meanwhile, the White House has instituted an airline cabin restriction on electronic devices for people flying from airports in eight nations. And last week, a State Department policy was revealed that mandates extra vetting of visa applicants in nations where US-bound travellers must apply for one. This includes inspection of social media accounts for some and is likely to make it more difficult for millions of people to travel to America.

The State Department took action following a March 6 order from the White House to enhance visa screening, a spokeswoman said, declining further comment. “We will keep the public informed about changes affecting travellers to the US as appropriate,” the department said in a March 26 email.

The order doesn’t apply to 38 countries in the U.S. visa-waiver programme, but others are going to have to wait. The new policy covers nations with millions of business travellers and international tourists, including Brazil, Mexico, China, Argentina, Colombia and South Africa. About 15m annual travellers will be affected, the USTA estimated.

So, for Dow’s organisation and the industry it represents, what looked like the beginning of a beautiful friendship became in just two months something bordering on adversarial. Even America’s closest ally and next door neighbour is wavering on sending its kids across the border for a field trip.

The new visa rules may have been the last straw for the USTA. Last week, Dow’s group issued an almost plaintive statement: “Mr President, please tell the world that while we’re closed to terror, we’re open for business. Imbalanced communication is especially susceptible to being ‘lost in translation’-so let’s work together to inform our friends and neighbours, who could benefit from reassurance, not just who is no longer welcome here, but who remains invited.”

For the Trump administration, the message on travel has so far been clear: An “America First” policy is likely to mean greater travel restrictions and entry barriers, plus the possibility of a physical wall on the border with Mexico. And a trade group once excited to see a golf-resort owner in the White House has instead begun to feel trepidation about his potential impact on a massive sector of the US economy.

“Yes, you are correct that you have detected a change in the tone,” Dow, a former Marriott International Inc. executive, said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg. “Travel is a very fragile thing and perception is a factor.”

The association is hopeful that, despite the inauspicious beginning, Trump cabinet officials like billionaire financier Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Secretary, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp, will help protect the travel economy. “The administration is trying to move very quickly on an agenda they put together,” Dow said.

Bloomberg-The Washington Post Service

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2017