"Tight U.S. security turning off tourists"

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Tight U.S. security turning off tourists


LONDON (Reuters) - Tough security measures at U.S. airports are putting
potential visitors off visiting the United States, the head of the World
Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) said in a newspaper interview published on
Wednesday. 
 
WTTC President Jean-Claude Baumgarten told the Financial Times the country's
share of international travel was slipping in part because of the tighter
controls at airports, instated following the September 11, 2001 suicide
attacks.

"The impact of the security measures is taking its toll," Baumgarten said.

"We say: Listen. (The U.S.) has to officially recognize the importance of
travel and tourism."

Stringent security checks were important, agreed the WTTC president, but he
noted that the advent of new technology such as biometric passports may help
to accelerate the process.

"Five years have passed since 9/11. There are lots of talks (in the United
States) about biometric technology and new security measures. But we haven't
seen any new security infrastructure (in airports) and no biometric
technologies are in place. So we are going nowhere," Baumgarten said.

The WTTC predicts good growth in overall tourism worldwide over the next 10
years, but forecasts that the United States will fall behind the
international growth rate by one percentage point, the FT reported.

"Every percentage point is worth $13.4 billion a year, or 153,000 jobs,"
said Baumgarten, adding that Washington had to spend a minimum of $200
million to increase its share of the tourism market.

The United States remains the world's largest visitor economy even though
numbers are falling, the FT said.

The number of visitors to the country was 7 percent lower than in 2000,
while international arrivals globally had jumped 17 percent over the same
five-year period, it said.

Baumgarten's comments came as the WTTC launched a manifesto for travel and
tourism in the United States.

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