Elvira

:curse:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2241491,00.html

tony126

Obviously the right step to take now that all the US borders are 100% secure.

NC Penguin

Just watch the US tourism industry head further into decline as Europeans head elsewhere in the world for vacations and shopping.

Bob

What a tw@.

scotch03

Tourism is booming - mainly due to the weak dollar.

lofty79

Are you sure???? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ma...travel-103.xml

fatbrit

2006 Finally Returning to Pre-9/11 Numbers
• International travel to the US, which reached its peak in 2000 with 51.2 million visitors, hit its low in 2003 with only 41.2 million visitors.
• In 2006, the United States is projected to return to – and possibly surpass – the pre-9/11 international arrivals.
• While this statistic may sound encouraging, the US has failed to capture any of the nearly 20 percent increase of worldwide travel since 2000. In addition, much of the increase in international visitation can largely be attributed to Canadian travel, a market now threatened by the challenges surrounded the upcoming implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).
• Overseas travel to the US has dropped by 17 percent since 2000.

Source: http://www.poweroftravel.org/pdf/economics.pdf

Giantaxe

So the US's share of international tourism has dropped significantly post-9/11. As has it's share of the international student market. Maybe it sees this as a reasonable price to pay for supposed increased security.

fatbrit

The ruling apparatchik need security concerns centre stage to remain in power and continue the transfer of money to their oligarchy. For average Joe, it gives no benefit at all.

Giantaxe

Indeed. Wait for the colour-coded security levels to be ratched up come the election season this fall.

lapin_windstar

Don't know if any of that would be compensated for by Americans who'd be turned off visiting Yurp because it would mean applying for visas (visa waivers are usually reciprocal). Probably not - they'd likely just go to Lat Am.

snowbunny

"We have the visa waiver programme which allows most Europeans who come to be tourists to come without visas. That means the first time we encounter them is when they arrive in the United States, and that creates a very small window of opportunity to check them out," he said."

I thought they were already doing this -- the list of passengers and their passport details have to be faxed/emailed to the US before/when the flight takes off! Exactly how much vetting do they need to do?

They have as big an opportunity to check them out as they want. It's called secondary.

fatbrit

All fair points. Perhaps foreign visitors could apply for their visa a year in advance (like immigrants), and then they'd have enough time to check them out?

Bob

They still wouldn't know what they're doing...look at the whole K1 and then doing the whole thing over again to AOS once your here etc....

snowbunny

....and it won't stop a serious criminal, either.