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THE BRITISH ARE NOT COMING Although the weak dollar compared with the pound makes travel in the United States a bargain for Britons, British leisure and business travel to the United States is down by 11 percent since 2000, says the Discover America Partnership, a travel industry group. It cited Commerce Department figures. Without the lure of the exchange rate, “the persistent decline in British travelers would be even worse,” the group says. It blames time-consuming and sometimes rude Customs and Immigration procedures at airports and a poor image of the United States abroad for an overall 17 percent decline in overseas travel to the United States since late 2001.

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