New entry fee would fund promotion plan
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By Michael Milligan
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate that would establish
a tourism-marketing entity to spearhead a
$100 million campaign to encourage overseas travelers to visit the U.S.
Under the Travel Promotion Act of 2007,
sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan (
D-N.D.), Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Daniel
Inouye (D-Hawaii), the U.S. would establish
an independent, non-profit entity called the
Corporation for Travel Promotion. It would
have a 14-member board appointed by the
Secretary of Commerce.
The bill also creates a
$100 million Travel Promotion Fund that would
be financed through a new
$10 entry fee paid by travelers from countries that
participate in the Visa Waiver Program.
Travelers from the 27 VWP countries are
permitted to enter the U.S. without a visa
and visit for up to 90 days. The countries reciprocate by extending the same privilege in
to U.S. citizens.
The CTP would use the $100 million fund
to promote travel to the U.S.
The VWP fee would be collected as part
of the Electronic Travel Authorization program, a border security system the Department of Homeland Security is developing.
Travelers from Visa Waiver countries
would be required to provide biographical data and other information on the their
travel plans to the U.S. The information
would be transmitted in advance of their
arrival. The VWP travelers would then be
given authorization electronically to proceed with their travel plans.
The Discover America Partnership, an
advocacy group that supports the bill, contends the U.S. is losing billions in visitor dollars to other countries and needs to begin
promoting itself to remain competitive.
At the same time, according to the Partnership, the U.S. needs to counter a perception around the world that U.S. security
measures are barriers to travel to the U.S.
Geoff Freeman, the partnership’s execu-
According to a study released recently by
the Partnership, the $10 entry fee, assuming
the addition of more countries to the VWP,
would result in a 1. 6 million increase in inbound arrivals and $8 billion in new revenue for the U.S.
The funding mechanism included in the
Travel Promotion bill mirrors a proposal recently floated by the Discover America Partnership. However, under the partnership’s
proposal, half of the fee would go towards
an inbound marketing campaign, while the
other half would be retained by the DHS to
enhance the entry procedures into U.S.
The partnership is promoting the Elec-
Defending the concept of a $10 entry fee, the Discover America Partnership
contends that ‘it’s not as if the status quo of no fee is doing us any good.’
tive director, told Travel Weekly, “You can’t
expect to grow [or] maintain your market if
you put obstacles in the way with no counterbalance in the way of marketing.”
Freeman anticipates that the idea of a
U.S. entry fee will run up against criticism
by some who will argue that it seems coun-terintuitive to add a fee at a time when U.S.
share of inbound tourism is in decline.
“The trend line of overseas travel to the
U.S is down,” Freeman said. “It is not as if
the status quo of no fee is doing us any good
at this point in time. If it takes a fee to get
the promotion under way, to turn things
around, then it is an investment.”
tronic Travel Authorization fee proposal
as substitute for a previous funding option
rolled out in January that would have had
the airlines collecting the entry fee. However, the airlines, which are generally against
imposing new fees on airline passengers, opposed the plan.
“The airlines have made it clear that they
do not want to be partners in collecting [the
fee],” Freeman said. “If that is the position
they are going to take, and it is understandable, we had to find an alternative vehicle.”
Meanwhile, Freeman said, he expects that
a bill similar to the Travel Promotion Act
will introduced soon in the House.
More confusion seen in phase two of passport regime
Continued from Page 1
Although the delay will provide cruise
passengers and travelers driving to Canada
more time to secure passports, some in the
industry expressed concern that the phased-in approach would create confusion.
“We support efforts to improve our security but are wary of our government’s ability
to communicate and implement multiple
phases in a manner that works for those
who will be affected,” said Travel Industry
Association president Roger Dow, in a statement. “Our government does not have a
track record of getting it right the first time
when it comes to WHTI,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Tour Association
said moving the start date to next summer
still doesn’t give the government enough
time to properly implement the passport
rule.
“The departments of State and Homeland Security must recognize the magnitude
of the problems in implementing WHTI,”
said NTA Legislative Counsel Jim Santini in
a statement.
“In order for smooth execution of the
land and sea requirements of the passport
mandate, we must do more to maintain
border integrity and facilitate cross-border
tourism. We simply need more time for the
agencies to be able to comply and to educate
the public and those enforcing the rules.”
Separately, Congress is moving to delay
land/seaport passport requirement for another two years. The House has approved
such a measure and a similar version has
cleared the committee process and is awaiting action in the Senate.
The debate over delaying the land/seaport
portion of the WHTI comes at a time when
the government is being widely criticized
for its inability to keep up with the unprecedented demand for passports spurred by the
initial stage of the WHTI, which requires air
passengers traveling to Bermuda, Canada,
the Caribbean and Mexico to possess a valid
passport.
Faced with a mounting backlog of passport applications, the State and Homeland
Security departments on June 8 decided to
temporarily permit people without passports
traveling to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean
and Bermuda to use a driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID and proof
that they have applied for a passport. The
policy will remain in place until Sept. 30.
Last week, Maura Harty, the assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, was called
before a Senate international operations and
organizations subcommittee to explain why
her department was caught flatfooted, in
light of the fact that the Homeland Security
and State departments had two years to prepare before the WHTI finally took affect last
January.
“This is really inexcusable,” said Sen.
David Vitter (R-La.), ranking member of
the subcommittee, who called the passport
backlog an “immediate and ongoing crisis.”
Harty explained that her office, mindful
of the WHTI, geared up to issue a maximum of 16. 5 million passports this year, up
from 12. 3 million in 2006.
However, Harty said, it soon became clear
the department’s estimates were off.
In January, the department received 1. 8
million applications for passports, about
600,000 more than projected. The following
month, 1. 7 million more applications arrived, followed by 1. 9 million March.
“We did not forecast 5. 4 million passport
applications in three months’ time,” Harty
said. “It was a miscalculation on the size of
the surge.”
When asked by subcommittee Chairman
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) who was responsible for the miscalculation, Harty said that
as head of the department, the responsibility was hers.
In essence, the State Department may be
a victim of its own success in publicizing the
WHTI. Coupled with the travel industry efforts and the resulting heavy media coverage, more consumers than expected began
applying for passports, which Harty called
“the most valuable travel documents on the
planet.”
Nonetheless, Harty added, “WHTI means
a permanent increase in demand” for passports that will continue for years to come.
Currently, only 25% of Americans, or 78
million people, have valid passports. The
State Department expects to issue 23 million passports next year and as many as 30
million a year by 2010.
