US visitors significantly less than in 2000

The statistics concerning the number of visitors to the United States in 2007 was not as encouraging as expected, with two million less visitors than in 2000. The US is going to have to take the situation seriously, if this is the case despite an unprecedented global travel boom and a weak American dollar that one would think would only sweeten the deal for overseas tourists.

President and chief executive officer of the Travel Industry Association Roger Dow says, ‘America is the world travel bargain, and yet two million fewer travelers visited the United States in 2007 than in 2000. In the current economic environment, the United States should be setting overseas travel records rather than inching back to pre-9/11 standards.’

The answer to the problem? More advertising and marketing! How American. In the rhetoric so familiar with the Bush administration, the ‘Travel Promotion Act’ aims to remedy the situation by examining visa requirements and other hurdles that overseas visitors would face.

For many who have travelled through US airports, perhaps the first step would be to tell the immigration authorities to abstain from being so utterly disagreeable and condescending to every passenger who has somehow offended the almighty Greenback with the effronterous attempt to enter the wretched country in the first place.