The business travel industry is “fiercely opposed” to President Donald Trump’s proposal to make foreign arrivals to the United States disclose five years’ social media history, according to new data from Business Travel Show Europe.
A survey of 192 respondents in April 2026, the majority of whom (60%) are corporate travel buyers/managers/bookers, found that 97.5% of corporate travel professionals do not think the US government should be permitted to request this information. Less than one percent agreed with the idea in principle, but only if tourists were targeted.
Among corporate travel professionals, there is an almost 50/50 division between those who think the policy will never be implemented and those who think it will, but a whopping 85% are against the proposal outright.
Over 40% of corporates said they would send fewer travellers to the US if the social media disclosure came into force. Nearly 17% said they would go back to using video conferencing, as many did during the COVID-19 travel restrictions. However, 18.5% said that the rule would not affect their business travel planning.
Corporate travel consumers are conscious, a press release about the survey said, of “concern around data privacy and the administrative burden such a requirement could create for global mobility teams.”
In February 2026, two Democratic senators, Ed Markey and Ron Wyden, said the US Customs and Border Protection policy would deter would-be visitors and represent an unreasonable expectation that would not be acceptable to American citizens going abroad. At that time, the proposal was intended to apply to citizens of 42 nations when they visit the US under visa waiver rules, bringing them in line with applicants for immigrant and non-immigrant visas who are already subject to similar social media disclosure rules, introduced in 2019.
The change would mean that visa-waiver applicants must reveal their social media handles during completion of their Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form. All email addresses used over the last 10 years, plus the names, dates, and places of birth, and addresses of the visitors’ spouses, children, parents, and siblings, would also be required information.
Speaking out against the measure, Louis Magliaro, Executive Vice President, The BTN Group, said: “Corporate travellers already navigate complex visa processes, security checks and compliance requirements. Adding mandatory disclosure of personal social media history could add more red tape when travel managers are already under pressure to increase efficiencies, cut costs and improve traveller wellbeing.”
The findings come amid reports of strong demand in the premium segment, according to the CEO of American Airlines, speaking to Bloomberg TV, tempered by the spectre of high jet fuel prices, as the end of Q2 looms.
Coinciding with that waymarker, the Business Travel Show Europe – where 3,000 buyers, suppliers and industry leaders will come together to discuss travel trends and topics, meet, and do business – takes place 24-25 June 2026 at Excel London.
