Bad news for the Bush administration seems to be coming from every direction these days, but one of the more obscure examples of piling on comes from the
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC):
The head of the most powerful trade body in global tourism on Tuesday launched a withering attack on heavy-handed security measures at US airports, saying the tactic was deterring potential visitors from visiting the country.
More below the fold...
The article continues:
Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council, told the Financial Times the US share of international travel was falling, in part because of the impact of tough security measures introduced after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
According to the article, this has a high cost in potential income and jobs. While international travel has increased 17% since the year 2000, the number of people visiting the United States has dropped 7%.
"Every percentage point is worth $13.4bn a year or 153,000 jobs," said Mr. Baumgarten....
If the US had kept pace with world growth, it would have seen an additional 9m foreign visitors in 2005, according to the WTTC.
There is a social cost as well, of course. As the WTTC said in a report sent to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez last month, the "image of the US...[is]...at an all time low in many parts of the world".
WTTC head Baumgarten added that "every one million visitors you lose is a million lost opportunities to show the real America." Geoff Freedman, head of the Discover America Partnership, would seem to agree:
Executive Director Geoff Freeman said Congress still needs to be convinced that allowing more tourists to visit the United States is a good move. Research shows that foreigners who have been to the United States are 42 percent more likely to hold a favorable opinion of the United States.
"The policies we're promulgating are designed to keep people out of this country," Mr. Freeman said. "We need to decide as a nation that we're a stronger country with more travelers. Once we fully understand that ... then we can have an honest debate."
Unfortunately, there is a darker side to this story. The WTTC is pushing the United States to step up its adoption of biometric data embedded in passports so as to reduce the long waits at airport security. Plenty of people are uneasy about this, including me.
The WTTC press release on this matter, including links to its full proposal, can be found HERE.