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Comment by Tripatini on March 19, 2010 at 11:01am

Tripatini Needs Your Opinion: Is the New $10 Tourist Tax on Foreign Visitors Good for the U.S. Travel Industry? Please reply on our Bulletin Board post. Thanks!

(We know some of you have already touched on this topic here in Media Only, and we thank you for your opinions. Today's request is for those who have not yet weighed in).

Comment by Jose R. Garrigo on March 17, 2010 at 8:15am

To Maralyn D. Hill: Please let me know about the International Food Wine Travel Writers Association.

Comment by Dee Farrell on March 16, 2010 at 8:18pm

I also echo Brooks and RObert. I am an American living in Australia, and return annually. I always go through culture shock, even with shorter cues for US Passport Holders. I used to work for TSA after 911 at the Denver International Airport, but I am appalled by the Security Staff, if it could be any worse than when I was a part of it. ( I quit after 3 months because of the calibre of so-called security staff.)

Comment by Brooks Baldwin Esq., CRM on March 16, 2010 at 7:58pm

Robert,

No need to apologize for the truth... I am a US citizen and I couldn't agree with you more. As a spa journalist who travels throughout the world on assignment, including your fair country - as a guest of the Australian Tourism Board, no less - I am well aware of how poorly our country and culture is reflected in those in charge of immigration. I am affronted by TSA on a regular basis despite my citizenship.

There are many reasons (and solutions) for the poor way our nation handles its foreign visitors, but two of the most likely culprits are ignorance and apathy. The vast majority of US citizens have never traveled abroad nor do they own passports (less than 20% of the US population possess passports), and as a result they lack any standard of comparison. That same population, along with many of us who are in possession of a passport and are aware of standards of comparison throughout the world, have long-ago unfortunately become apathetic to the the miasmal and indiscriminate treatment we receive from TSA, partly due to its continued prevalence as well as the lack of control we feel over influencing it.

As a US citizen, I extend my apologies to the foreigners among you who suffer poor treatment at the hands of our immigration and TSA personnel - and I'd bet that I am speaking on behalf of a large number of US citizens when I say this.

Please don't give up on us!

Comment by Robert Stockdill on March 16, 2010 at 7:24pm

Plans for a National Tourist Board

At the risk of sparking a flaming debate between those of us US-based and the rest of the world (I'm in Australia), I can't help but add my ten cents worth to this debate as an outsider looking in.

Firstly, we have a body in Australia - pan-state - promoting Australia as a tourist destination. States have their own organisations too, focusing more on attracting domestic tourists. They have their successes and failures, but overall they fulfill a valuable role. The concept is very sound and would potentially serve the US well.

Except for one major problem: As someone else alluded to on here, the US has an image problem relating to its border control and internal travel security. No amount of promotional investment from a tourism umbrella lobby is going to overcome that - cultural change is necessary and it has to start within the Department of Homeland Security.

Most people around the world recognise the US has just cause to be wary of terror attacks in this day and age and must be vigilant. But the endless stories - not just those that make it to print, rather the anecdotes from travellers returning home - are genuinely putting people off visiting the US.

I travel there at least annually and while I love the experiences to be had in some of the cities - and more remote areas - the whole in and out process - and the internal flights - I loathe.

While there has been some improvement in the last 12 months or so, flying into LAX or even SFO is an affronting, humiliating and unpleasant experience for foreigners. We're called "aliens" which in many cultures is considered rude and offensive. We're often made to queue for long periods of time while we see Americans walk straight to a counter and be processed without any delay (and I understand that and accept it as normal everywhere, including Australia; I just think the balance of counters needs to be more flexible at times).

I can't recall ever having been greeted in a pleasant, welcoming way by immigration staff. I'm always left with the impression they'd rather I hadn't arrived and bothered them. And I am convinced it is part of the training process to learn how not to smile.

We're finger-printed like criminals hauled into a police station - not just once for the record but on every visit.

Once through all the officialdom, we then have to run the gauntlet of panhandlers masquerading as airport volunteers who are apparently under no controls and in most westernised countries would be banned from terminals.

Internal travel is defined by long queues, relentless searches of anyone on one-way tickets (I usually travel on round the world tickets). Surly, rude, often aggressive TSA staff or contractors who become threatening if you so much as change your tone of voice at them (necessary when someone carelessly throws around my camera bag with $7500 of Nikon cameras inside!). Etc, etc.

Some people write these tales off as urban myths, but they're not.

The brutal, honest truth is that foreigners feel unwelcome visiting the US. I have had numerous people tell me they enjoyed seeing it and they're glad they went, but they wouldn't go back. Others who have been to Canada as well rave about how warm and friendly the people were.

And it seems everyone has a tale about searches, queues and rudeness by TSA staff.

I'm not writing this to rile Americans or criticise your country in any way. I understand fully why you have to have a tough stance these days. But at the same time I believe there are different ways of going about things to achieve the same end goal.

I am sure I'm going to get ridiculed by some for this post, but I think it is important that these issues are debated in an open forum for the benefit of America's tourist industry.

Comment by Maralyn D Hill on March 16, 2010 at 3:32pm

The International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association is in the process of lining up press trips for 2011. If you are interested in proposing your destination, please let me know.

Maralyn D. Hill, President
IFWTWA
Maralyn@ifwtwa.org

Comment by Ed Wetschler on March 6, 2010 at 9:02am

Here's the latest on that front:
http://www.travmedia.com/north-america/pressrelease.php?id=54884&mo=3&referencekey=7b55745d7775738a4098563e6c5e852c

Comment by Allan Lynch on March 3, 2010 at 5:36pm

While I don't think it would hurt the US to have a national tourist board, I'm not sure all the various partners have the kind of corporate culture to work collectively. Look at the micro level, where the local Chamber of Commerce will only tell you about their members. A community could have the most amazing feature in the world, but if it doesn't pay dues to the Chamber, they would never tell a journalist or a visitor about it.

My beef is this $10 fee. There used to be a time when business overheads were included in the price of services and goods. Now, everything is an add on. Frankly, I pissed at paying all these extras. If a destination or a property or a state or a country wants to attract my business - or that of my readers - then they should have that contribution factored into their marketing budget, which is one of the overheads they consider when setting their prices.

Whenever I can, I now add up these charges and bring it to the reader's attention and/or I find a cheaper alternative. Or at least a destination to pitch that doesn't charge.

I've just been invited on a trip to Europe. Unfortunately, it means flying to NYC to catch a plane. Given the indignity of what I have to go through at the airport to fly into the US, I am reconsidering the invitation. I'm hoping they can fly me directly from Canada to Europe and take a connecting flight.

Of all the countries I've travelled to, America is the only one I actually think I may not be admitted to enter. I have actually found Chinese customs agents more friendly and welcoming than ones at Logan Airport (which is normally where I enter the US).

Comment by David Paul Appell on March 3, 2010 at 12:37pm

Did anyone see this item yessterday on the NYT blog, which raises the question: does the USA need a national tourism board?

Bill to Create U.S. Tourism Board
By Lionel Beehner

The number of foreign visitors to the United States in 2009 was 9 percent below 2000. A new bill that passed the Senate last week, and is expected to be signed into law, aims to reverse that trend.

The Travel Promotion Act would create a national tourism board to develop ad campaigns and raise awareness of United States security and visa procedures. The tourism board would be financed by a $10 fee on foreign visitors who do not need a visa to enter the United States.

The travel industry has long advocated for a tourism board, arguing that the United States is one of the few industrialized nations without one. A January 2010 study by Oxford Economics, a forecasting and research group in Britain, estimated that a tourism bureau would bring in 1.6 million additional foreign visitors yearly, as well as pump about $4 billion into the U.S. economy.

Critics of the bill, including some Republicans and some airline industry representatives, say that the slump in foreign tourism is not a public relations issue, but rather a result of strict immigration rules that subject visitors to unwelcoming, and even humiliating procedures.

Comment by Susan Frost on February 26, 2010 at 3:02pm

Thank you Ed for taking time to post the comments below. Would be interested in hearing pros and cons from Tripatini members who are currently working for Examiner.com. And, still curious about the story process--assigned by Examiner.com or suggested by the writer?

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