Word: foreign
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Helping keep travelers at bay are tighter visa restrictions, tougher entry procedures at immigration desks and a general increase in anti-American sentiment in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We took foreign travelers for granted and erroneously assumed they would just keep on coming," says Harteveldt...
Washington-watchers expect the TPA to pass the Senate by the end of the year. Once enacted, it will create two new entities - the Office of Travel Promotion and the Corporation for Travel Promotion - to help foreign visitors actually get into the country. The offices will serve as resources for both individual travelers and the travel industry, explaining visa regulations and entry requirements, offering destination data and sponsoring marketing campaigns. Most importantly, by promoting the entire nation - rather than a specific airline or destination - TPA supporters say the bill could entice up to 1.6 million additional tourists to visit America...
...would have a budget of up to $200 million, funded by contributions from the private sector (hotels and airlines, for instance) and a new $10 fee that would be paid by any entering foreign visitor who does not require an entry visa. The latter element has proven controversial - especially to the mostly European travelers who would have to contend with those extra costs. Ambassador John Bruton, head of the European Commission delegation to the United States, called the potential levy "discriminatory" in a September statement, and warned that it could become "a step backward in our joint endeavor toward transatlantic...
...Senator Dorgan counters that $10 is far lower than similar fees - ranging from Ireland's $14 entry tax to the U.K.'s whopping $100 - paid by Americans when they travel abroad. And with a mere 35 countries that would be required to pay the fee, fewer than 30% of foreign travelers will be affected...
...appears to have garnered enough support to be passed into law - and funded into action. U.S. Travel's Freeman concedes it will probably be another year before the Office of Travel Promotion is fully up and running. But he is confident that Washington will recognize the benefit of increased foreign travel to the nation's fiscal recovery. "This is the low-hanging fruit to fixing the economy," Freeman says. "It's about as obvious a solution as you can imagine - and we think Secretary Clinton and President Obama clearly recognize this...