Reported on CNN: Leaders in the US travel industry met in Washington yesterday to discuss the decline in overseas travel to the US since 9/11, and delivered the following message to the Federal Government: “stop treating tourists like terrorists.” (ouch)

”’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 travel decline is also hurting the United States’ reputation, and the good will travel can engender, the group said.”

Discover America is a group made up of representatives from normally smiling, friendly-family operations such as Marriott, Disney, and Visit Florida, which makes this news even more dire. Travel to the United States from countries other than Canada and Mexico has dropped 17% since 2001, while in 2006, more people traveled internationally than ever before. Even the Germans, who collectively spend the most per capita on foreign travel, are coming in smaller numbers, 1.8 million in 2000, versus 1.4 million last year. Discover America says that difficult visa procedures and understaffed and backed-up immigration checkpoints, not dislike of US foreign policy, are to blame. Troubled times, indeed.

– Travel industry: U.S. losing out on international tourism (CNN)
– Tagged: Airport Security
– Tagged: Politics