January 11, 2004
New US visa requirements damage tourist industry.
While you would hardly know it from reading the world's financial publications, which still focus almost exclusively on the 19th and 20th century standards of manufacturing and retail sales, the tourist and travel industries are now the largest in the world, especially in the amount of jobs they create. I read somewhere that something like 1 in 10 jobs in the world are in these industries. A lot of these jobs are fairly low-wage service jobs, but they still pay real money and are essential to any modern economy.
Tourism is, in fact, the number one industry in more countries than any other industry. This would include a lot of so-called "third world" (isn't it about time we dropped that archaic term?) countries, but it does represent something quite significant in modern economics. And it is quite new, something that only developed during the 20th century, part of the amazing growth of leisure time and money of recent times.
You don't, for instance, even find the word "vacation" listed in most 19th century dictionaries. If you had asked most people a a bit over a hundred years ago if they were planning a "vacation" they would be quite puzzled. Wouldn't know what you were talking about. Most likely they would say that, well, sometimes on Saturday we only work eight hours, and have time for a bath. Is that what you mean?
Which is why the many post-9/11 actions to harass, restrict and limit travel here, are having a devastating effect on the American tourist industry. Something that will accelerate due to the new regulations that will require most foreign visitors to get visas before they can come, at least until they are able to get a new biometric passport, which will take a while. An article in the Scotsman,
We don't want you without a US visa, discusses how concerned the travel industry is about this, both here and there.
BUSCH Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida, is a rollercoaster fanatic’s dream. ... Of course, many Britons will already know this - 30% of the people who pour through the gates of Busch Gardens each year are British. It is, admits Fred Jacobs, spokesman for the Anheuser-Busch Entertainment Corp which owns Busch Gardens, a "remarkable figure".
But Jacobs is worried, and with good reason. New restrictions will force thousands of British tourists to travel to London for a visa before being allowed to enter America, and could have a seismic impact on the industry. "We are troubled," admits Jacobs. "We support the need for greater security in the immigration process, but by the same token UK travellers mean so much to us. We want to look for ways within a secure environment of keeping it easy and cheap for people to keep coming. The idea of having to go to London for a visa, with all the associated trouble and cost that puts them to, is intolerable."
It has not been an easy few years for the American tourist industry. First came the September 11 terrorist attacks, which pumped the once laid-back world of air travel full of jitters and left America’s $529bn tourist industry on the ropes.
Then, as it staggered to its feet again, along came another knock-out blow in the form of the Sars virus, followed by the war in Iraq.
Now, just as the travel industry looked ready to climb back in the ring, a new threat has emerged. Only this time, there is incredulity over the fact that the punch was thrown by legislators in Washington. Angry members of the travel industry are knocking at the White House door for answers.
Amid a furore over looming changes in immigration requirements, which will force certain travellers from 27 countries including Britain to obtain a visa before entering the US, State Department officials are said to now be scrambling to come up with a compromise deal. Without a re-think, say tourism experts, the US travel industry stands to lose up to $15bn a year in lost revenue as holidaymakers turn to more hassle-free destinations.
In holiday hotspots such as Florida, whose largest overseas market is Britain, the fall-out from last week’s visa controversy has caused alarm among those still struggling to restore pre-September 11 revenue levels.
Note the $529 billion figure for the US tourist industry. That's huge. Comparable to what Wal-Mart takes in. Also note that they mention the SARS virus as a problem, even though, so far, the US hasn't had a case of SARS. I guess they're referring to the Canadian problems during 2003. I didn't realize though, that when many people come to America, they also plan on visiting Canada. Or at least they appear to think of North America as a single destination.
I also didn't realize that Florida has become such a major international destination.
But most were Americans and international visitor levels were down 16 per cent on the previous year. While 1.3 million Britons shrugged off terrorism nerves to head for the Sunshine State, that number was 14% lower than 2001.
Tourism is Florida’s number one industry, comprising one-fifth of the state’s budgeted revenue. It generates more than $50bn annually and employs more than 870,000 people.
... "People already think twice about coming here because of the whole terrorism thing, so this is going to make them think three or four times."
I'm also just starting to realize just how restrictive the new regulations are. People in the UK, for instance, will have to travel to London or Belfast first for a face-to-face interview, and pay $100 in order to get a visa. The Scots are particularly worried, since apparently the US closed its visa facility in Scotland a while ago in order to save money. And it would appear that frequent Scottish visitors simply won't bother.
Travel agents in Scotland are close to panic. Paul Gardner, a director of Glasgow-based Barrhead Travel, said: "Sixty per cent of our holiday business is to the US. This is such a serious issue for us that basically if money is the problem we would be happy to pay for an office and a computer for the US government to bring this facility back to Scotland.
"There are so many other great places in the world and if this is the way America wants to treat its tourists it will lose them. Florida is America’s most popular destination, but I am sure that if this is allowed to happen people will just travel to Spain or Greece instead."
What's particularly sad about this, is that with the declining dollar, travel to the US has never been cheaper. One of the few good things about it. And it will cost the British government millions of pounds to issue the new passports, something that will increase already growing anti-American sentiment.
