Is the U.S. Treating Tourists Like Terrorists?

Whenever I fly home from a trip overseas and am herded into immigration and customs lines at the airport, usually by stone-faced officers hollering instructions at the top of their lungs, I’m always struck by just how cold and unwelcoming the feds make the arrival process. I don’t expect to be greeted with chocolates by security officials, but I just don’t encounter the same level of hostility when I arrive in other countries. I always wonder what’s going through the minds of travelers coming to the U.S. for the first time. According to a CNN report, it turns out that many potential visitors may not be coming to the U.S. at all because of just such issues here and at U.S. offices abroad. Overseas travel to the U.S. has dropped 17 percent since 9/11. Travel industry leaders blame the government and are calling for changes. “International travelers will tell you that they find that they are treated like criminals, that they are barked at by U.S. officials,” said Geoffrey Freeman of the Discover America Partnership. “They simply feel unwelcome and that is leading them to choose other countries.”

The report continues:

According to the partnership members, the decline in overseas travel to the United States comes at a time when the travel business is burgeoning internationally. But travelers are choosing to go elsewhere.

Of the 25 countries that were the largest source of visitors to the United States in 2000, 17 sent fewer visitors in 2005, industry officials say. Japan—the United States’ third largest source of visitors after Canada and Mexico—sent 5.1 million travelers to the country in 2000, but only 3.9 million in 2005. Germany sent 1.8 million in 2000, and only 1.4 million in 2005.

The economic impact of declining visits is obvious. But J.W. Marriott, Jr.—yes, that Marriott—points out that visits from overseas travelers have less tangible benefits, too.

“The overall image of this country abroad is extremely important to this nation in every respect,” he said. “People feel good about this country; when they come they feel a lot better. We’ve got to get them coming back.”

And we’ve got to get them through customs without them wanting to turn around and fly back home, too.

 

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