Donald Trump could be in trouble.
Not Trump the presidential candidate. It’s Trump’s hotel brand that may be hurting, according to a recent Skift survey.
Travel site Skift polled 2,028 U.S. adult Internet users using Google Consumer Surveys, asking them just one question: Are you more likely or less likely to stay in a Trump Hotel because of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign?
Respondents in the top three income brackets were the least likely to book a Trump hotel.
Of those earning in the $100K-150K range, 66.7% said they would be less likely to book a Trump room, while 64.2% of those earning above $150K and 58.8% of those earning between $75K-100K concurred.
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More popular with rural dwellers
Those who said they were more likely to book a Trump suite were, alas, the least likely to be able to afford one.
Some 24.9% of those in the $25K-50K bracket and 24.9% of those in the $50K-75K brackets were “more likely” to stay at a Trump hotel.
“For four- and five-star properties, you kind of want those numbers to be flipped,” observes Jason Clampet, co-founder and head of content at Skift.
Similarly, Trump properties seemed to have more clout with rural dwellers, 29.3% of whom responded that they were “more likely” to book with him, but were also least likely (21.4%) to know he operated a hotel brand.
Poor performance with women
Not surprisingly, the Trump travel brand – like the man behind it – scored terribly with women.
About 63.3% of female respondents said they’re be less likely to book one of his rooms (and 17.5% were unaware of the Trump hotel brand).
By comparison, 50.1% of men responded “less likely.”
Not only is that type of gender disparity unique, says Clampet, but it’s not usual for hospitality brands to suffer for their politics.
“In the last few years, we’ve seen hotel brands be very bold about issues that would have once been socially divisive, and there hasn’t been a blow back,” he notes.
The survey, he says, confirms some trends he’s noticed about how the Trump campaign is affecting various Trump businesses.
“We’ve seen restaurateurs walking away from lucrative deals; Jose Andres walked away from a (Washington) D.C. property. I know they’ve had challenges with PR agencies and brands not necessarily eager to work with them, so that’s created challenges,” he says.
“It hurts them in terms of development. It’s harder to sign deals if you have potential partners that aren’t going to work with you.”