Janet Silvera, Gleaner Writer
Disney character Mickey Mouse, in a work outfit. Disneyland is a top American tourist attraction. - REUTERS
WASHINGTON, D..C.
DESPITE ATTRACTING more visitors in recent years following the disastrous impact of 9/11, the United States (U.S.) market share of international travel is at an all-time low, according to reports from the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA).
The TIA research was released at the opening session of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) sixth global travel and tourism summit in Washington, D.C. yesterday morning.
The summit brings together CEOs and chairmen of the world's leading travel and tourism businesses, cabinet ministers, senior government officials and prominent journalists from around the globe.
STIFF COMPETITION
Since 1993, visitor arrivals to the U.S. have dropped 35 per cent, costing the world power economy US$286 billion, or US$38,700 every minute.
Stiff competition from countries such as Spain, France, Australia and Asian nations, as well as immigration measures implemented in recent years, have pushed the country down to sixth position, three places down from its third-place ranking a few years ago.
Anxious to reclaim ground, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, whose administration has been accused of paranoia, admitted that he very much wants to encourage travel and tourism to the U.S.
"We are emphatically behind the idea that we must be full partners with the rest of the world in developing free-flowing patterns of travel," Mr. Chertoff said. "Americans lose when we put up walls and keep people out ... This is not to minimise that we have real threats, but we damage ourselves if we don't distinguish between our large number of friends and the small number of our enemies."
He added: "When we protect our borders we have to do so in a way that doesn't close them but makes them more secure: safe borders, but open borders."
INITIATIVES
Outlining the initiatives to combat the negative effect the measures have had on his country, he said government has increased the number of visas issued to international students, technological workers and travellers who want to have fun.
Accordingly, student visas have been extended from 90 to 120 days and visitor visas are expedited with more people qualifying.
Mr. Chertoff added that not only can people get visas more easily to visit the U.S., but that a paperless visa process which uses modern technology is to be introduced.
