U.S. Travel Praises Moves to Improve International Visitor Entry
WASHINGTON - February 16, 2015 - U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on an announced effort by the Departments of Commerce and Homeland Security to improve the entry process for international visitors to the United States:
"The Obama administration has demonstrated time and again that it grasps the broader value of attracting international travelers to the U.S. During the average visit, these travelers expend huge amounts of foreign currency—meaning their spending counts as an export; they consume virtually no public services while they are here; and they support hundreds of thousands of unexportable jobs. Attracting more international visitors to our shores is one of the best ways to spur exactly the kind of economic activity this administration wants to prioritize.
"Today's joint announcement by Secretary Pritzker and Secretary Johnson is another step toward the president's thoroughly laudable goal of attracting 100 million visitors annually to the U.S. by 2021. If we continue smart policymaking, that mark is well within reach.
"We hope that the private sector's input on this initiative will translate to other concrete steps, such as a targeted reduction in the average per-passenger entry process wait time, throughput improvements and gathering data on customer satisfaction. But in the meantime, we congratulate President Obama and his team for finalizing action plans at 17 gateway airports, and for their unrelenting pursuit of improvements to this area that materially benefits U.S. economic productivity and job creation."
Contacts:
Cathy Keefe,
(O) 202-408-2183, (C) 703-899-7031
Jamie Morris,
(O) 202-218-3621, (C) 530-545-9274
The U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry that generates $2.1 trillion in economic output and supports 14.9 million jobs. U.S. Travel's mission is to increase travel to and within the United States. Visit www.ustravel.org.
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