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Some overseas visitors are over Florida

The state has relied on a steady stream of European tourists. But visa hassles, hurricanes and some bad experiences are leading more of them to flock elsewhere.

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published February 12, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Jim Damaske] Angus Strachan and his wife, Joan, citizens of Scotland, own a home in Clearwater and live there three months of the year. But with increased hassles getting into the United States, they now take their second vacation in friendlier European countries.

Chris Rogerson, a British national and Madeira Beach home- owner, still seethes over the barrage of questions fired at him by a United States Customs agent at Orlando International Airport.

When was the last time you were here? How much cash do you have on you? Why do you need a U.S. bank account?

"He looked and talked at us like we were something he wiped off the bottom of his shoe," says Rogerson, who had arrived with his wife in 2004 for their three-month stay. "It makes you feel like a criminal."

Such stories give Florida's huge tourism industry fits.

Overseas tourists make up a small but prized slice of the state's visitors. Their interest in U.S. vacations has cooled, at least in part over tighter security changes imposed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"It's a general feeling that the U.S. is no longer a friendly, welcoming place," says Bud Nocera, chief executive of Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing office.

Nearly 4.4-million overseas visitors came to Florida in 2005 - 17 percent fewer than in 2001. Statistics aren't available yet for 2006. But by all indications, the news won't be good.

Nationally, overseas visitors in the first half of 2006 were down 1 percent from the same period in 2005, with Western European travelers off 4 percent.

Pinellas County is expected to report this week that visits by Europeans declined about 2 percent in 2006 from the year earlier. That would mark the first drop since 2002.

European tourists suffered from the same hurricane jitters that scared away summer visitors in general, says Walter Klages, whose market research company reports Pinellas visitor statistics.

The dip was "very minimal" and Florida remains a hot spot for Europeans, he says.

But other players in the tourism industry point to trends that make vacations in the U.S. a harder sell. Other destinations are fighting hard for a bigger share of the lucrative international tourism business.

Britons get bombarded with television ads pitching such exotic attractions as Egypt's pyramids and glitzy, new beach resorts in Dubai, says Geoffrey Rowcliffe, who runs Pinellas' tourism office in London.

"America was the hot ticket for a number of years," he said. "But now people ... are tempted to say: 'Let's go somewhere we can boast about.' "

Sky-high trans-Atlantic air fares are also to blame. U.K. tourists opt for places they can reach by ferry or short flight, like Spain and France, said Sean Tipton, spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents.

Angus Strachan and his wife, Joan, used to take two vacations a year from their home in Scotland to the house they own in Clearwater's Countryside area. Now, they've cut back to one.

Winter vacation packages to Spain and Portugal cost as little as $12 per person daily for a two-star hotel without meals to $44 for a four-star hotel with breakfast and dinner. Even the cheapest deal includes airfare from the United Kingdom.

The cost of air travel to Tampa alone comes to $9.60 per person daily spread over their three-month visit.

"We found we were missing a hell of a lot not going to Europe," says Strachan. "The history, the architecture blows you away, especially compared to downtown Tampa."

Staying closer to home also lets him avoid the post-9/11 hassles of visiting the U.S.

Strachan qualifies only for a "nonimmigrant" Florida drivers license valid for the length of his stay. So, each visit includes a trip to the license office, taking an eye test and paying another $15.

Like all foreign visitors, he and Joan give a fingerprint and have their photograph snapped each time they enter the U.S. "We find it very difficult, as America's closest allies, that we're treated that way," he says.

Most Western European tourists travel without a visa for trips shorter than 90 days. But visitors who want to stay longer or come from countries not in the U.S. "visa-waiver" program face a long, expensive process.

U.K. citizen Gordon Melville, who spends half the year at his house in Largo, ran through the bureaucratic maze last year.

Melville, 77, had to call a special number - and pay the equivalent of $3 per minute - to schedule an interview at the U.S. embassy in London, 500 miles from his home near Scotland's border.

He and his wife, Lilian, stayed in a London hotel the night before so they'd be on time for the 11 a.m. appointment. They waited 90 minutes outside in the rain before moving to a hall with 700 applicants.

At 3 p.m., a clerk called their names, took their paperwork and told them to sit back down. Three hours later, they answered a standard set of questions in an interview that took four minutes.

A tourism industry lobbying group went to Capitol Hill last month with proposals to make it easier and faster for overseas visitors coming to the U.S.

They called for "a 21st century visa system" that included mobile offices and video conferences to interview visa applicants far from U.S. consulates.

The group also asked for Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration to work with companies like Disney to process travelers in a friendlier, more efficient manner.

The agencies launched "model airport" initiatives to improve customer service for international travelers at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

But tourism executives say improvements are needed at the nation's top dozen international gateways, including Miami and Orlando airports.

"The U.S. has a long way to go to regain our reputation as a welcoming destination," said Nocera of Visit Florida.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or 813 226-3384.

[Last modified February 9, 2007, 23:44:39]