Senate Bill to Promote Foreign Tourism
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Senate is scheduled to begin consideration today of Senate Bill 1023, the Travel Promotion Act of 2009:
“On May 12, 2009, Senator Dorgan introduced S. 1023, the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. The bill would establish a non-profit corporation to better communicate U.S. entry policies to international travelers and promote leisure, business, and scholarly travel to the United States. The legislation would also create an Office of Travel Promotion within the Department of Commerce to coordinate with the corporation. The legislation was reported favorably out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation with a written report and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar on June 5. The Senate is expected to begin consideration of this legislation on June 16. “
The committee report notes that overseas travel into the U.S. has declined and this legislation is aimed at restoring international visitors. How will this be funded? The government will pay two-thirds and there will be agreed assessments on the travel industry. In addition, the proposed legislation “requires the Department of Homeland Security to collect a $10 ESTA fee from foreign travelers.”
Heh. Want more international travelers? Charge ’em.
— DRJ
DRJ – Heh. Want more international travelers? Charge ‘em.
I’d agree, but there’s that conundrum of millions of people buying $4.25 coffee.
Sometimes charging a fee makes people think they’re getting something ‘extra’ in return for that fee.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 6/16/2009 @ 1:23 pmLet’s go full-on banana republic and charge travelers the fee in US dollars, cash only, payable at the airport before you leave. Let’s also make them wait in a separate line to pay their fee. That’s how they used to do it in Mexico, and still do in Venezuela and Argentina. I love the outbound airport experience in Caracas and Buenos Aires – very efficient, lots of smiling faces!
carlitos (84409d) — 6/16/2009 @ 1:32 pmthis pretty much says it all….
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 6/16/2009 @ 2:12 pmI dunno guys, I just cannot stand foreigners. They’ve been giving me nothing but trouble ever since I came to this here country.
nk Barack Hussein Obama (ca8012) — 6/16/2009 @ 2:53 pmHad a friend running a gift shop on Mackinaw Island. She had a line of purses which was not moving and the season was closing. A vendor’s rep–different line–offered the advice to double the price.
Richard Aubrey (23395e) — 6/16/2009 @ 3:12 pmThings flew off the shelves.
It might help to change the attitude of customs offices at the airport. A friend came from Australia a few years ago. His girlfriend was wealthy and owned a huge ranch (they call them stations) in the outback. When the customs agent asked her occupation, she replied “retired.” As she was a gorgeous 40 year old, she was taken into another small room and grilled for a hour or more.
I’m sure she wanted to come back.
Mike K (90939b) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:32 pmI think you mean Immigration, Mike K; the Customs people have their own special evil dealing dealing with all the interesting things people bring back from vacation.
That said, your point is well taken. Immigration authorities “at the border” both can and will send visitors packing on what seem to be little more than whims. Bad night sleeping? Lousy day? Miss a break? They’ll ignore a proper visa, the traveler’s plans, reservations, and send ’em back.
jdm (05b268) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:50 pmYep, the Obama Banana Republic
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/16/2009 @ 7:13 pmApogee and Richard,
I understand your point, really I do, but I confess my first thought was how I would like to negotiate a contract with you on the other side.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/16/2009 @ 7:22 pmI actually had a client who complained to the referring attorney that I charged him too little (for a pissant routine matter) and the referring attorney complained to me about it.
nk (eaa598) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:29 pm