Did you honestly think my question about monoculture was directed at their "political climate" comment and not the comment about cost?
I did not think their comments implied a connection between the value of being a tourist in the US and a their concerns over politics. Maybe if it were much cheaper they wouldn't care about the politics, but that doesn't seem likely to me.
How so? The article doesn't mention the value of travel in the US. The comment "It also happens to be ridiculously overpriced for what you get as a tourist" is clearly adding an _another_ reason they (suspect?) tourism declined.
It is followed with "But yes, there is also the political climate.", which I interpreted as an agreement with the reasons in the article -- that the decline was due to the political climate.
How is that a misinterpretation? It seems likely and reasonable that that the "ridiculously overpriced" comment is being stated because they meant it is _additional_ reason for the decline - as it is one not stated in the article.
The biggest reason is that pricing is not part of local culture. Politics is.
To take this a step further, it doesn't matter where you enter the country, even if it is a place where the people are generally nice and specifically sympathetic to tourists getting detained, the first person you're dealing with is an LEO at border control & they are all following the same orders. They appear to be going out of their way to look for reasons (on your cell phone, tattoos, etc.) to send you back home. God forbid you have a run in with another cop after you've entered the country...
