Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[starlagurl]

This kind of goes with that notorious post on boycotting countries....

Overseas arrivals in the U.S. have declined 11 per cent this decade, from 26 million in 2000 to 23 million in 2007. That's all happening while the travel industry as a whole grows 6 per cent per year!

From declining travel visas, to only-English signs in abundance, it seems that visiting the states is getting more and more difficult. Especially for people who are not from the list of 29 countries whose residents can visit the US without a visa. For some perspective, Canada's list is 50 countries long. In theory, it's easier for a Mexican resident to visit Europe, than it is for him/her to visit the US. It's completely astounding!

The declining dollar is supposed to bring more tourism, and I wonder if it really will. Especially with an attitude like this.

What do you think? Are Americans too mean for international tourism? Even though it's a beautiful country, is the red tape and crass attitude getting in the way?

When you hear all that bad news about the American economy, it seems that tourism should be something they should be embracing. I think it's time to change some tourism policies, no?

Link to the World Hum article that inspired me.

[mmbcross]

The United States is one of the few countries in the world that doesn't have a national tourism office. Most tour promotions are left to the individual states and to private companies.

The Bahamas alone outspends all the U.S. States' budgets for tourism. I guess the U.S. feels it gets enough world coverage without having to spend money on tourism ads!

[starlagurl]

Interesting thing about the Bahamas, have you noticed that the Atlantis hotel on Paradise Island always just seems to "pop up" in big budget movies like Casino Royale and After the Sunset??? Who paid for those product placements, huh? Hmmm...

[rbisset]

I'm not going to USA again, unless necessary, until there is a change in the current administration. Being treated like a criminal and interrogated for 45 minutes for doing the heinous crime of flying into one of their airports is a disgrace! USA really needs to sort out it's customs officials who have a seriously inflated opinion of self-worth!

[starlagurl]

Yeah, the border guards, even at the land crossings are usually so yucky and unfriendly...ugh...

[mmbcross]

Goodness! I'm glad I am already here, though once upon a time, before I got my residency, I had to go through all that crap too. If it weren't for the weather, I'd prefer to live in Canada. Perhaps with global warming, Canada will soon be in the tropics.

[starlagurl]

Uh oh, looks like there might be a French backlash of some sort? According to LostWeekend.tv, which I don't think is a reputable source, really, they say that France will be limiting the number of American travelers to France. If anybody sees this on a bigger website/news source let me know, because it's really serious!

Link to the article

Never ones to spare other countries sensibilities, Paris has announced that they will place limits on the number of US tourists they'll admit into France from the 1st of January next year.

Mirroring similar quotas the country already has in place for visitors from various other non-European countries, including Russia and China, the French foreign minister cited economic concerns and the "popularity of France" as the reasoning behind the limitation.

[rbisset]

Umm posted on April 1st.....

[starlagurl]

Hahaha, what really? You think it's a joke? But...there's a video!

[starlagurl]

Oh, oops I'm confused...yeah it's probably a joke...

[introducinlyric]

I'm not going to USA again, unless necessary, until there is a change in the current administration. Being treated like a criminal and interrogated for 45 minutes for doing the heinous crime of flying into one of their airports is a disgrace! USA really needs to sort out it's customs officials who have a seriously inflated opinion of self-worth!

i agree but this is a shame as i do wana go back to the united states as it is my birth place and their are places i wana visit there but the whole customs thing is off putting no surprise theres a drop in tourism. the fact you get photographed and finger printed is absurd!! your not a crim for flying into and visitng a country

[mmbcross]

Look at it from the U.S. point of view. How do they know that you are not going to blow up the White House, president and all, with a bottle of deadly Coke? If you do, at least they will have a photo of you and will be able to publish it on the front page of the New York Times.

[starlagurl]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, methinks those is fighting words...

[laorfamily]

As in any country, one must separate the government policies from the people.

mmbcross - I know you posted your reply in an ironic tone, but it's probably very true.

That being said, the US has the most horrific, inefficient, idiotic and rude airport security system. The whole “airport security” issue has to do with only one thing – keeping the masses scared.
There, I said it!!!

They took a bunch of people who couldn’t get a job flipping burgers and gave them federal authority to harass others. I’m actually surprised tourism fell by only 11%, I would have thought it would be much higher.

People here (the US) are actually starting to see through the Bush administration shenanigans and are starting to demand meaningful change.

[starlagurl]

Haaaaaaaahahahaha that is a wonderful hilarious analogy about the airport security people! I believe it is like this in Canada too.

[starlagurl]

Do you really?

[mmbcross]

Hey chaps. We are coming back to the earlier blog on Travelpod about the Canadian flag being used by US travellers scared of not being welcomed with open arms. I guess everyone loves a Canadian!

[netravel]

I was not going to respond until I got to that quote about Americans being mean.

While you brought out good points, I think it is highly unfair to classify Americans as Unfriendly. Perhaps They are in the common Tourist Areas, such as the East and West Coasts...but here in the Midwest, where we host the College World Series, we love our tourists! You have to remember that people in the "Big" tourist areas have had their fill of rude tourists as well. In Nebraksa, we value the tourist dollar and realize that it helps not only economically, but also to bring awareness that there IS more to the US than California and New York.
Just my 2 cents worth...

Veronica

This kind of goes with that notorious post on boycotting countries....

Overseas arrivals in the U.S. have declined 11 per cent this decade, from 26 million in 2000 to 23 million in 2007. That's all happening while the travel industry as a whole grows 6 per cent per year!

From declining travel visas, to only-English signs in abundance, it seems that visiting the states is getting more and more difficult. Especially for people who are not from the list of 29 countries whose residents can visit the US without a visa. For some perspective, Canada's list is 50 countries long. In theory, it's easier for a Mexican resident to visit Europe, than it is for him/her to visit the US. It's completely astounding!

The declining dollar is supposed to bring more tourism, and I wonder if it really will. Especially with an attitude like this.

What do you think? Are Americans too mean for international tourism? Even though it's a beautiful country, is the red tape and crass attitude getting in the way?

When you hear all that bad news about the American economy, it seems that tourism should be something they should be embracing. I think it's time to change some tourism policies, no?

Link to the World Hum article that inspired me.

[Paul]

For me there are a number of reasons.

First I will start by saying that I disagree with the policies of the USA government and many of it's big businesses - but I also disagree with the policies of Myanmar, some of Thailand's, Australia's, ... Actually, just about everywhere. So that isn't stopping me going anywhere.

Second, I have no doubt that many USA people are friendly (probably very friendly) and some of their environment (which is extremely under promoted) would be great to see. I have nothing against the average USA person as a person.

But, I am not going to USA. Why?

1. I simply can't afford it. The flights, the food, the extra taxes/tips, the accommodation,... I could never afford to travel in the USA.

2. To quote an earlier post :"I'm not going to USA again, unless necessary, until there is a change in the current administration. Being treated like a criminal and interrogated for 45 minutes for doing the heinous crime of flying into one of their airports is a disgrace! USA really needs to sort out it's customs officials who have a seriously inflated opinion of self-worth!"

I totally agree. I don't intend to be treated in that manner or have my family treated in that way. So that also puts me off. Just out of interest, this is also a reason why I don't visit my country of origin, Australia, very often, as at times the customs officials there also treat me as a criminal. Slightly annoying as I served in their Army for 9 years as an officer and so I wonder who these high school drop outs think they are treating me that way. Any, moving on.

3. I have no desire to visit and see Western culture. More than anything, when I travel I want to try to escape from Western culture, and this is getting harder and harder as it floods the world. So travelling into the heart of it - no thanks.

That's it. See ya.

[mmbcross]

I'm amazed that you get hassles going back to your own country. Even though tourists and visitors to the USA are viewed as potential terrorists until they can prove without a shadow of a doubt that that are just coming to see Mickey Mouse, US citizens and residents don't go through that same crap coming back through immigration...unless of course, your name is Mohamed. I bet even Barak Obama would have a problem getting in if he mislaid his passport, especially as his middle name is Hussein.

Although the US seems to produce exceptionally courageous military, the general populace is scared S*$#less of everything and everyone who is not exactly like them, which is crazy, as more deaths in the USA are caused by people just like them with legally purchased AK 47s and a chip on their shoulder.