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Letter to the editor

Foreign visitors staying away

Tourism officials hear about efforts to make traveling to the U.S. from abroad easier.

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published November 20, 2007

Coming to America is no day at the beach for foreign tourists.

Obtaining a visa can take more than 100 days and require a trip to a U.S. embassy. Upon arrival, visitors often face long waits in line and sometimes surly federal agents barking orders.

Is this any way to welcome people who make up a $100-billion industry? That was the question posed by Rick Webster of the Travel Industry Association in a presentation Monday to Pinellas County's Tourism Development Council.

His pitch resonated with the panel of mostly local hotel executives and elected officials. European visitors, mostly British and German, make up a significant and high-spending sector of the county's tourism business.

Last year, nearly 890,000 Europeans made an overnight stay - in Pinellas, that stay makes you a "tourist" - which was a decline of 2 percent from 2005. That 890,000 made up 17 percent of all Pinellas tourists in 2006. This year, their numbers are down about 1 percent.

Nationally, the numbers for 2007 look better. Through July, more than 26.7-million foreign visitors entered the United States, up 8.4 percent from the same period last year.

Big increases from Mexico and Canada mask weak visitation from places like Japan down 5.3 percent and the United Kingdom (up 2.6 percent), said Webster. The weak dollar should be attracting waves of bargain-hunting tourists, he said.

A variety of issues influence the decisions of overseas travelers, from anti-American feelings about the war in Iraq to the lure of heavily marketed competitors like Dubai and Turkey.

The Travel Industry Association, the industry's largest trade group, is focusing on steps the federal government can take to ease entry requirements for foreign visitors in a post-9/11 world.

President Bush signed a bill into law this year that could allow travelers from more countries to visit without a visa. Citizens of 27 nations, including most of Western Europe and Japan, now can enter with a simple background check.

Among those left out are two key markets for Florida: Brazil and Argentina. Bringing them into the visa waiver program would instantly boost visits 30 percent to 40 percent, said D.T. Minich, the county's tourism director.

The State Department has beefed up staffing in other countries to speed up processing of visa paperwork, Webster said. Mobile video equipment could let applicants have mandatory interviews with U.S. officials without leaving their hometowns.

For Europeans, the biggest worry is harassment from agents as they enter the United States. "They view U.S. Customs as a greater concern than terrorists or crime,"Webster said. "There are instances where officers yell at visitors. When people have a negative first impression, it can color their whole trip."

The association is working with federal officials to make the airport experience more hospitable. Webster played a video designed for visitors as they wait to clear Customs. Portrait of America, produced by Disney, shows soaring landscapes and faces of smiling Americans set to music.

Only one word is spoken: Welcome.

The tougher part, Webster said, will be training federal agents at airports to accept a dual role as goodwill ambassadors. "It's going to take a cultural change," he said. "They're law enforcement officers."

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

[Last modified November 19, 2007, 22:48:17]