International visitors usually make a trip to the US 57 days after their initial search, so the April figures would be the first to register fallout from Trump’s controversial orders made in January.

“Are we surprised by the data? The honest answer is yes,” said Roger Dow, president and chief executive of the US Travel Association, speaking at IPW in Washington last week.

“There have been many claims the administration’s actions on travel have tarnished America’s brand abroad but we are seeing hard economic evidence of the US travel sector’s resilience.”

Things were less positive in the UK market, which has seen a 6.1% drop in visitor numbers to the US compared with the same time last year, while visitors from the rest of Europe were down by 3.6%.

The association released travel projections for 2017, with overseas visits expected to fall by 0.2%.

Dow said he was “very concerned about the American brand being in trouble”, adding: “The administration must be loud and clear that America is closed to terror, but is open for business.”

He said other priorities included modernising traffic controls and improving US airports.

“They are not up to speed”, said Geoff Ballotti, the association’s national chair, who joined Dow on stage. “Improving airports needs to become a national priority.”