Research

Unwelcome to America: U.S. policies discouraging overseas visitors

America is yanking in the welcome mat for foreign travelers. Thanks to government policies that make visas difficult to obtain and that intimidate visitors at U.S. Customs, would-be tourists are taking their travel money and going elsewhere, said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association. Though a weak dollar has made the United States a bargain internationally, the country has lost 2 million visitors from overseas since 2000, Dow told the Economic Club of Phoenix recently.

2008-11-05

Though a weak dollar has made the United States a bargain internationally, the country has lost 2 million visitors from overseas since 2000, Dow told the Economic Club of Phoenix recently. The impact is enormous, he said, when the travel and tourism industry employs one out of every eight Americans. "It's a very important thing for us to understand from an economic standpoint," Dow said.

Policy consequences

In tough financial times, policies that discourage visitors are foolish, he said. Foreigners who come to the U.S. spend more than Americans traveling overseas, resulting in a positive balance of trade, yet their numbers are declining. In 2000, 51 million people visited the U.S. Of those, 25 million came from Canada and Mexico, and 26 million came from overseas. Last year, 57 million visitors came to the U.S., but only 24 million came from outside North America.

Tourism from our neighbors is important, Dow said, but the financial rewards fall short. When Canadians and Mexicans visit, they often stay with friends and relatives. Average tab per visit? $900. Visitors from overseas, on the other hand, drop an average of $4,000 per person on each trip.

Dow, former senior vice president, global and field sales at Marriott International, placed much of the blame on regulations enacted by the U.S. government after September 11 that discourage foreign nationals from traveling here. Securing a visa to come to America is a rigorous process in many countries, he said. In Brazil, for instance, it takes more than three months just to get an appointment for a visa interview.

Brazilians must travel to one of only four American consulates in their country, the largest in South America, sometimes requiring them to take their children out of school and camp out until the process is completed. The American government, Dow said, is not afraid Brazilians are terrorists but that they won't return home after their visit.

Before 2000, more than a million Brazilians visited the United States annually. Last year, the number fell by half. In the days when a million were coming to America, only 500,000 were going to such countries as Spain and Portugal. Last year, 2 million made Spain and Portugal their destination. "We've lost 50 percent of them because we make them jump through so many hoops to get a visa," Dow said.

Ripple effects

The fallout doesn't impact only the hotel industry. The ripples spread much farther. Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, told Dow that last year's consumer electronics shows welcomed 27,000 international attendees. That number once topped 40,000, meaning 13,000 fewer people are coming on behalf of their companies to buy American products.

Dow also shared the story of Illinois Tool Works, a $4 million company that sells engineered components, tools and other construction-related supplies. Contractors in India, he suggested, might plan to build a million houses and buy staples, nails, tools and other products from Illinois Tool. But by the time they can obtain a visa to look over the company's factory, they've been able to visit Korea four times, Dow said.

Companies hoping to attract foreign customers find it a hardship even to host conventions in the U.S. because some participants won't be able to secure visas. Dow's second beef is the entry process for foreign visitors. To many travelers, U.S. Customs is peopled by "rude and arrogant" agents. One misspoken word, and the visitor is detained. Two wrong words, and they're shipped back home.

Research, he said, shows that 27 percent of visitors from overseas fear crime and terrorism when coming to America. But 47 percent fear the U.S. Customs process. Dow groaned as he cited an article in the Times of London that listed Ten Reasons Not to Visit the U.S. The article advised that for shopping, Brits could go to Hong Kong; for the Disney experience, they could travel to Japan or France; for gambling, Macau was the better choice; and as an alternative to the beaches of California, head to Australia.

Third, Dow charged that the U.S. government fails to communicate about security measures and makes travel increasingly arduous. He recalled the time when families could see a loved one off at the airport gate. Now the ordeal is: take off your shoes, take off your jacket, put away your laptop. Liquids must be in three-ounce containers. Foreign travelers sometimes must register their fingerprints, and some of them find that offensive.

Dow sees the wisdom in such security measures. But why not issue press releases explaining the government's actions and the reasons behind them? Why not streamline the process? On two screens in the meeting room, Dow played a short piece from NBC's Today show chronicling the frustration of air travelers, then reported that he had discussed the problem with Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff.

How many terrorists have been captured through airport screening? Dow queried the secretary. None, Chertoff answered, but said pedophiles and thieves have been nabbed. Dow shook his head. "That's not the purpose of what we're trying to do," he told his Phoenix audience, many of whom represent the travel industry. "We're going to get terrorists through information. We're not going to get them by taking our shoes off."

But tourism is up in Arizona

Dow had better news for Arizona, saying that 35 million visitors come to the state each year, spending 45 percent more than just five years ago. In 2007, Arizona's guests spent $19.3 billion. "Somebody's doing something right, with new products, new attractions," he said. Phoenix is making strides in wooing conventions, he noted, landing in the top 25 cities in dollars spent.

But he cautioned that even with the new multi-million-dollar expansion of the downtown convention center, new trade is not a sure thing. "You're no longer competing with San Diego, Las Vegas and Florida. You're now competing with Mexico, Turkey, Greece, Australia, Dubai, Shanghai, Portugal. They're all building phenomenal convention centers." Yet when people come to America, they like what they see.

"Our research shows that when people come here, and they stay here, and they spend time in America, they're 74 percent more likely to feel positive about America, Americans, American policy. When they don't, it's 21 percent." He compared the experience to test driving a car. What car dealer wouldn't like to generate a 74 percent positive response to a car taken for a spin? Similarly, few people who move into a community or relocate a company haven't first traveled to that area.

Good for you

And travel benefits people personally, Dow said. "People who take vacations and travel seem to be healthier, seem to live more vibrant lives," he said. "I do believe that young students, or young people that travel around with their families, are much more global, much more excited about other opportunities that lead them to look at other things than just working in the home town. It's the beginning of them seeing what's going on."

Dow pulled his business card from his pocket and read the back out loud, a quote from Mark Twain: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." It's also good for associated businesses. In the restaurant industry, for example, 40 percent of the trade at high-end dining rooms and 17 percent of fast-food clientele is related to travel and tourism, Dow reported.

Visitors bring benefits that residents do not, he pointed out. "When you think about it, people come here, they leave their money, they go home. You don't have to educate their children, you don't have to fix their roads, and you don't have to feed their homeless Travel and tourism is really the front door to prosperity." But Dow also called travel a fragile business.

On Sept. 11, the industry "came to its knees in one hour," as planes were grounded following the attacks on the World Trade Center. The country was at a standstill. The U.S. economy slowed to a crawl and the global economy followed. A month later, Dow was speaking in Westchester County, N.Y., and hailed a cab before flying on to Washington. He asked his driver how the tragedy had affected business. The driver answered that Dow was his first fare in a month.

Dow asked when he expected another passenger. "I don't know," said the driver, who was the father of a young daughter. When healthy, the travel industry offers enormous opportunities, Dow said. A young person can begin as a lifeguard, a waitress, a front desk clerk, and through savvy and hustle end up running a hotel or a travel business.

Dow himself began his 34-year career at Marriott as a summer lifeguard at the company's sixth hotel. The world has changed since that time, he conceded. Once-faltering nations are building thriving tourism trades. People are traveling globally, but they're going more places than the U.S. — a puzzle, he said, when "we're the greatest sale ever."

Rolling out the welcome mat

Positive steps are being taken, Dow said. On November 17, the U.S. will expand the Visa Waiver Program to include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Republic of Korea and the Slovak Republic. Secretary Chertoff has agreed to install "model" airports across the country with better signage and an increased emphasis on hospitality. "Hospitality and security are not mutually exclusive," Dow insisted.

Dow showed one more clip, this time a portion of a film produced by Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and donated to the U.S. State Department. Entitled "Welcome: Portraits of America," the touching video soars across the country highlighting the faces of dozens of Americans from all ethnic groups and all walks of life.

Foreign travelers arriving in 20 international airports as well as guests in dozens of U.S. embassies around the world will view the film's panorama from the Golden Gate Bridge to the farms of the Midwest to the lights of New York City, all pieces of the mosaic that makes America. At the end, the message is a simple one spoken by average citizens: "Welcome."

"Isn't that the America we all know?" Dow asked. "Isn't that the America we should be showing to the world, of who we are and what our values are and what's important?" His hope was for renewed vigor in what he called "the most pervasive industry we have in the United States I'm optimistic we'll get there."

Bottom Line:

Dow's advice for those considering a career in travel and tourism:

It's one of the few growing global industries.
To succeed in the tourism business takes "smarts, hustle and attitude."
Travel serves all fields of business and draws from all fields.
It's a happy industry that attracts outgoing people.
Travel work offers an easily transferable skill set that can take people from city to city. For those with talent, travel jobs are available. It's an industry that turns over, making way for new recruits.

Economics