NPF

Not sure if this is the correct Forum (I considered TravelBuzz vs Security vs Travel News):

NYT article mentions that "United States’ share of the total travel market is down, to 11.2 percent in 2010 from 17.3 percent in 2000" and so the US Travel Association lobbied for the the "Travel Promotion Act", a 2010 law that is being implemented now to promote tourism to the US.

Everybody knows the real reasons of this decline, which can be summarized by one word: hostility.

Does anyone really believe that it would be possible, only with advertising, to revert this decline without correcting the real causes?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/bu...tourists.html?

Eastbay1K

I don't deny that US policies keep a lot of people away. However, without knowing more, I am skeptical of the figures - not as in raw numbers, but as in "total travel market" and how it has changed since 2000. I would imagine that there are a large number of people from emerging markets that are now part of the total travel market that may still be in the "regional travel market" (i.e, staying within South America, East Asia, etc.) that aren't yet part of the target US market.

obscure2k

Please follow this thread in the Travel News Forum.
Thanks...
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

NPF

Yes, we don't know how these numbers were calculated, but:
i) they came from the US Travel Association, not from competitors trying to woo tourists from the US
ii) most of the money to be used is private
iii) and the public money to be used came from a tax on VISA waiver visitors which, on the short run, only aggravates the problem.
For the Association to agree to this scheme, they must have had valid concerns

cordelli

It's a silly statistic

The number of tourists are up, but because more people around the world are traveling the percentage overall is down. I'm sure it's down in most cases as a percentage as more people traveling is diluting the entire pool.

In the year 2000, the US issued something like seven million passports. Now they issue about twice that in a year. Twice as many americans possibly leaving the country is going to significantly drop the percentage of tourists in the US.

New York City for example set an all time record for tourists last year (2011). I don't think anybody cares what the percentage of tourists visiting New York was compared to the percentage visiting Rio or Sydney, etc.

GUWonder

The US is trying to address this real loss in market share by easing up on visa requirements and increasing the speed/ease with which visas are issued. It is slow-going. The biggest spenders per visitor to the US are now Brazilians as the Japanese and Europeans have been displaced in that regard. That kind of fact is making more people realize that the US needs to be competitive in ease of access to our tourism market -- including from countries in the developing world -- and we just aren't there to the degree the Europeans are even as regional international tourism has skyrocketed.

A larger part of the marketshare means a lot more jobs than we already have that benefit from international tourism, so clawing back marketshare is important even when the rising tide is lifting all boats to some degree.

BILLRNNP

This is a very real problem. My wife and I currently live in Switzerland, but
maintain our condo in SFO. We have offered the use of our condo to Brazillian family, but it can take them 3-4 months to receive a visa. These are
MD's, MBA's, JD's not people who are coming to drive a yellow cab. Several have
been interrogated and received a secondary at immigration. This happened to my brother in law who is a Stanford JD grad, and works for a well known Sao
Paulo firm. Most family have now soured on the US and just visit us in the Canton of Zug. Maybe the US could get some help from Swiss Tourism. I am
never at Swiss immigration for more than 20-30 seconds. Over Christmas the
immigration agent in SFO orderded me to pull my ears forward to make sure
my profile matched my passport photo. I am a citizen, retired air force officer.
I am afraid we are losing money that this country can ill afford. (sorry for formatting
posted on a phone)

FLLDL

While I do believe that much should be done to make the US more friendly to foreign tourists, the use of market share is a bit misleading/stupid.

How much of the decline in "market share" can be explained by the easier access and improved tourist conditions in various parts of Asia? Tourism has soared in China and Thailand in the 2000-2011 time frame. Many countries on the tourist track today, like Vietnam and Cambodia are growing from a very low base, so of course the share of established markets are declining.

How much of the decline can also be explained by the growth of the consumer class in countries far away from the US? Much cheaper/faster for Chinese/Indian etc package tours to travel to a place like Thailand vs the US. Same reason so many Americans go to Mexico/Caribbean destinations vs similar destinations further afield.

The fact is that the number of foreign tourists in the US hit an all time record in 2011, as did tourist spending. While I do hope that the US eases up on the visa process etc, the conclusions being pushed by this US Travel Association are rather simplistic and very self serving.

kebosabi

Simple: the stupid $14 ESTA fee that is nothing but a hidden tourist tax.

Wally Bird

How many of those 34 million came by road I wonder ?

glennaa11

I have to agree with everyone saying that market share percentage is down probably mainly due to the rising middle class in the developing world. Lots of Chinese tourists hitting SE Asia, for example.

But for sure our hostile system doesn't help as noted as well. Not sure you can compare Switzeralnd to the US though when it comes to immigration processing times. I would imagine that the US is a bigger target than Switzerland.

mre5765

Speaking of silly, in 2000, Americans could return from trips to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America with nothing more than photo ID and birth certificate. Now they cannot. Do you think that might account most of the 100% increase in issued passports?

JohnnyColombia

I used to refuse to go to the USA because of the "hostility" and worry about being treated like a criminal just for the misdemeanour of spending my pesos in their country.

But I have internally reframed it now and have been to the USA 15 times in the last 3 years. It is all part of the experience, you have to view the USA as a giant theme park where stupid questions [removed inappropriate/TOS-violating characterization] are all part of the experience. One of the attractions you might say.

Now as seasoned visitor, I look forward to them trying to "catch me out" with one of their intelligent questions like "Hmmmm Colombia, what's the skiing like there this time of year?"

I love America, I know some stellar Americans, intellectuals, some of them geniuses, athletes too. So I don't buy into the stereotype [removed inappropriate/TOS-violating characterization]

I love it! And will personally be doing my bit to prop up the visitor figures for the foreseeable future.

NPF

What is extremely frustrating is that, once you are inside the US, it is usually a delight.

I can not say the same while interacting with the "official" US. And this is from someone who has had zero real problems in these interactions. But there is always some tension in the air . . .

I have had probably over 95% good experiences with CBP and even TSA has not bothered me too much but, above all, it is the drama, the theatricality of everything, the climate of suspicion that is irritating.

Also, for people that needed a post-9/11 visa, everyone hears horror stories / knows someone that has had the visa (apparently) arbitrarily denied, be them true or not.

The US has become known as a hostile place, which is a shame, because it is very friendly once you are inside, much more so than some other countries were their inhabitants are far more rude than americans.

cordelli

Maybe a portion of it, but certainly not most of it. The increase uptrend started was well on it's way before Americans needed passports to return from Canada and Mexico (2007 air, 2009 land)



And the number of valid passports has been rising for decades