U.S. tourism may be casualty of war on terror

[Yurt]

Travel execs cite concerns overseas visitors don't feel welcome

Some U.S. travel executives -- including those who run Disneyland and Walt Disney World -- think the government needs to do more to improve the country's image with foreign tourists who increasingly are choosing other places for their vacations.

Tourism officials ascribe the decline partly to anti-Americanism that arose after the country launched military action in Afghanistan and Iraq and to the "hassle factor" associated with new visa application and airport security procedures.

Aggressive campaigns by other countries to lure tourists have had an impact, too.

"It's more than just an image decline," said Jay Rasulo, president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, a Lake Buena Vista, Florida-based unit of The Walt Disney Co. "I think other countries are out there competing for tourists and we have not been."

'Fortress America'

Tourism officials emphasized that they aren't opposed to the Bush administration's homeland security objectives; what concerns them is the manner in which policies are implemented.

"We have developed an image in many countries as fortress America," said Betsy O'Rourke, senior vice president for marketing at the Travel Industry Association of America, a Washington-based trade group. O'Rourke said tourists should be greeted as "customers," not potential "invaders."


Jay Rasulo, president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, says an image problem and increased competition are hurting U.S. tourism.

Alan Chick of Brighton, England, has traveled to the United States once a year, on average, for the past 18 years and said that while there is some truth to the perceived hassle factor, the problem has been vastly overblown and shouldn't deter foreign tourists.

The last sums it up. Before 9/11 America was one of the most lax country in the world when it came to security and inspection of foreign tourists or "students."

While this may have a temporary tourist set back, in the end things will balance out. I for one would rather have a safer country than more foreign tourists.