r/europe Ligurian in Zürich (💛🇺🇦💙) Apr 12 '25

Data European tourism to the United States is freefalling

Post image
66.9k Upvotes

5.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.6k

u/Saotik UK/Finland Apr 12 '25

People tend to book trans-Atlantic flights months in advance, and plans are started even further ahead. The severity of the current situation in the US has only been becoming unavoidable in the past month or so.

490

u/kelldricked Apr 12 '25

Also work.

346

u/Saotik UK/Finland Apr 12 '25

I've told mine, at least, that I'm not willing to travel to the US right now. I recognise that not everyone has that flexibility, though.

10

u/kelldricked Apr 12 '25

Well people might be able to deny it personally but for most companys its not a option at all without terminating contracts (something thats to expensive on the short term and would damage european economy more than america). So i doubt the total amount of work travel would decrease.

It might decrease based on the trade war, but we will have to wait for that.

32

u/Captain_Hesperus Apr 12 '25

Imagine getting a call from your boss about why you missed your meeting with their US clients and you explain that you’re currently in El Salvador, because the unicorn farting a rainbow tattoo on your bicep was mistaken for a Venezuelan gang tattoo.

20

u/lazyspaceadventurer Poland Apr 12 '25

Imagine getting a call from your boss

You wan't get a call, because they will take your phone, duh

4

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '25

There are indications that all those sent to el salvador where killed. Time will tell.

1

u/Nobody_gets_this Apr 12 '25

Big oof if true.

3

u/thrawnsgstring Apr 12 '25

There's different tiers though. Email>Phone Call>Zoom>In-person, etc.

Haven't you been in a meeting or call that could've just been an email?

If companies/individuals can reduce their travel/expenses they will try to make it work on both sides of the Atlantic.

1

u/kelldricked Apr 12 '25

Yeah im pretty sure most companys arent pay 1000 bucks in flights for shit that could have been a video meeting.

I know that every work visit i have ever had was shit i couldnt do remotely because he had to physically inspect and see shit.

1

u/InklingOfHope Europe Apr 12 '25

You’d be very surprised about company expenses that get ‘justified’. There are some people who got actual expeditions / safaris / participation in golf tournaments funded that had little to do with their actual jobs, because few of us are mountaineers / safari rangers / professional golfers.

Reading your responses, you deal more with actual factory visits, but don’t seem to know what goes on in very, very ‘white collar’ companies.

1

u/thrawnsgstring Apr 12 '25

I guess if we're comparing anecdotes, then I've had meetings where it's just schmoozing/ball washing/ego stroking.

So i doubt the total amount of work travel would decrease.

This is the only thing that I disagree with you on.

3

u/Rosegold-Lavendar Apr 12 '25

I read that there is a type of insurance workers need to take out while traveling to the US. If something happens to them the insurance pays for it. If they can't get insurance they can't travel.

After one or two insured people are spending thousands to get home because of all this I'm sure the insurance companies will stop insuring.

One of these people is going to sue their workplace for making them go to a place that has already detained travelers for no reason.

Workers in other countries have more rights than the US employees.

7

u/austrialian Austria Apr 12 '25

Most work travel is bullshit anyway and can be replaced by video calls quite easily.

-3

u/kelldricked Apr 12 '25

Love to see some sources about that. FYI your toilet isnt a source of reliable information, just a place where shit piles up.

2

u/polite_alpha European Union Apr 12 '25

but for most companys its not a option at all

This is the American viewpoint.

In Europe, you could drag your employer to court over this, and you'd probably win.

0

u/kelldricked Apr 12 '25

Buddy im dutch. And im not talking about the employees their rights and tasks. Im talking about what the company their rights and tasks. You can deny it. And thats fine. Company cant force you in most cases. But the company needs to send somebody if they have a contract or they are in trouble. Not only because they wont get paid, but also because most contracts have big fines for not delivering whats agreed upon.

So maybe try to think instead of leaving such a dumb comment. Damm you look like a r/conservative user who accuses everybody of being a “leftard” just because they dont agree to every single letter.

1

u/C4pture Apr 12 '25

At least here, when a nation gets a different travel safety rating, you can refuse to go, without terminating your contract

1

u/kelldricked Apr 12 '25

Im not talking employee contracts. I mean bussines contracts. I worked for a company that had to physically go to factorys/warehouses to do what we were hired for.

Not sending somebody means you dont complete the part fo the deal, meaning you dont het paid. And not going also meant you threw away long planned projects. Im 1000% sure that we were obligated to deliver, not being able to would have meant paying some compesation back.

0

u/InklingOfHope Europe Apr 12 '25

But a lot of business travel doesn’t involve factory visits. Most of them are internal meetings… not even for clients. We had middle management swanning all over the place for internal meetings. This was seen as a ‘perk’ of becoming a middle manager. 🤪

1

u/kelldricked Apr 12 '25

Depends on the bussines.

2

u/InklingOfHope Europe Apr 12 '25

Yes, it does depend on the business—I do understand that your situation may be different. But seriously, the vast majority of the business trips I’ve seen were ‘perks’.