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Ease tourists' entry pains, officials plead
By STEVE HUETTEL
Published February 1, 2007
With the number of overseas visitors to the United States slipping, travel industry executives lobbied federal officials Wednesday to make entering the country easier and more welcoming to tourists. Overseas travel to the United States is down 17 percent since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The first six months of last year showed a 1 percent decline overall from 2005 and a 4 percent drop in visitors from Western Europe, the Commerce Department reports. Travelers cite long delays obtaining visas and long lines at U.S. airport checkpoints staffed by grumpy federal agents. "Of all the things ... preventing overseas travelers, the most onerous is their perception of the process to get into our country," said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Rasulo and two hotel chain executives testified before a Senate committee Wednesday to push a package of travel industry initiatives to boost international tourism. They include: - Processing visa applications within 30 days by beefing up staff at consulates and using better technology, such as teleconferencing. - Adding 250 new Customs and Border Protection agents at major airports so international travelers can move through checkpoints in 30 minutes or less. - Improving service at airports by using line-management techniques from companies like Disney and asking travelers to rate their performance. A year ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff kicked off a program to welcome legitimate visitors without compromising security. They said Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport would be models for visitor screening. Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson told a travel industry gathering Wednesday that the government is studying results of the program. "We could do just a little better job of this," he said. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or 813226-3384.
[Last modified February 1, 2007, 00:00:00]
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by Sal
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02/02/07 07:49 AM
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I travel only in the US, there are so many great things to see and do. That is why people want to come here and I have no problem makeing them stand in line to do it. Lines are everwhere in Europe and the armpits smell worse!
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by franco
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02/01/07 01:54 PM
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I am not one to go to those places. I am more of a fisherman so leave me in the capital of the world "Florida" for fishing. Thug nation I dont think so.
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by Franco
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02/01/07 01:52 PM
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We are just getting boring for the average person. Why would you come here if you can go to europe and do what you please. Amsterdam is a place that has no limits. The only place that compares to it is vegas but how many times can you go to vegas?
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by Sam
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02/01/07 12:09 PM
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Are these tourist officials nuts. Don't they realize that there is a slow down in other countries economies as well as our own.
Furthermore, many tourists are not inclined to visit a THUG nation which the USA has become under George Bush.
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