Consider the case of Mario Labbé, a Quebec businessman who recently changed his name to François Mario Labbé. This was because he had been facing hassles for the past 7 years everytime he boarded a flight for the U.S., after being erroneously placed on Homeland Security’s flight passenger watch list.

There are hundreds of cases like this, and starting next year, the Department of Homeland Security intends to make things even worse for incoming travelers to the U.S. with  the Electronic System for Travel Authorization. Under ESTA, visitors from the 27 countries listed under the Visa waiver program would then need to trasmit, in advance, identity and itinerary details to the DHS via the internet, and then wait for travel authorization.

This is a policy landmine for the travel industry, since it will likely deter a lot of regular visitors from entering the U.S. Inspite of the weak dollar, there were 2 million fewer overseas travelers in 2007 than in 2000. The decline in overseas travel since 9/11 has cost America 46 million visitors, $140 billion in lost visitor spending and $23 billion in lost tax revenue. Not to mention 340,000 new jobs in 2007 alone.

Partly in response to ESTA and other hassles faced by travelers since 2001, the Travel Industry Association (TIA) has been pushing Congress to pass the Travel Promotion Act (Overview, S. 1661 and H.R. 3232, in the U.S. Senate and House respectively). If passed, the bill would enable the setting up of a private-public joint firm called the ‘Corporation for Travel Promotion’, funded in part by the private sector and in part from a new $10 fee charged under ESTA to those who do not pay for a visa to enter the U.S.

This new corporation would have the mandate to attract international visitors, and educate and inform them about the new requirements for entry into the U.S., by means of infomercials and advertising campaigns.

According to the TIA, a $100 million campaign by the new corporation would result in an increase in annual visitor spending of about $8 billion and additional tax receipts of about $850 million. The Senate version of the Travel Promotion Act now has 50 co-sponsors, while the House version has 245 sponsors. The Bush Administration opposes the bill. 

Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Travel News