New entry fee to US akin to charging dinner guests
If you’re planning a trip to the US, you will now have to pay a new travel fee that started this week.
Travelers from 36 nations will be required to pay US$14 to register through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, required for travelers using the Visa Waiver Program.
“Four of the $14 will cover ESTA operating costs, and $10 will go toward promoting the United States as a tourist destination,” reports CNN.
Opponents don’t like the idea very much.
"It’s like inviting a friend over for dinner and then charging them a fee at the door," said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents airlines around the world.
"If the idea is to make the United States more welcoming and to increase tourism, raising the entry fee seems to be counterintuitive to what you’re trying to do," Lott said. Instead, more effort should be made to improve the cumbersome entry process, he said.
IATA voiced opposition to the fee to members of Congress before it was established by the Travel Promotion Act, which was signed by President Obama in March.
The legislation created a nonprofit public/private Corporation for Travel Promotion that will be funded in part by the $10 fee collected from visitors who are not required to apply and pay for visas. Up to $100 million in matching private sector contributions will provide the rest of the corporation’s funding.
The US Travel Association says the new industry trade group, which is the first of its kind, is a positive move to bolster international visitors.
In some countries, national tourism organizations have been spending more than $100 million annually on tourism promotion for years, according to the association.
The United States welcomed 633,000 fewer overseas visitors in 2008 than in 2000, despite strong global growth in long-haul international travel during that period, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The US Travel Association doesn’t expect the fee to have a negative effect on visitation. Economic consulting firm Oxford Economics estimates a well-executed promotional program would draw 1.6 million new international visitors annually.
By David Wilkening
David
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