I have several Sunday newspaper rituals: the lead story 'Weddings & Celebrations' story in the New York Times, the travel sections of several newspapers (astonishingly, the Denver Post's lead travel stories were about winter in Yellowstone National Park and about nearby Grand Targhee, WY, published during the last weekend of the ski season) and the current exchange rate for the US dollar versus other currencies. The latter is relevant right now, because my husband and I are planning a short trip to England and Scotland, and the dollar now buys only a hair over 50 pence, which is motivating us to seek inexpensive options once we are there.
Meanwhile, with the pathetic dollar, you'd think at least the US would welcome deep-pocketed foreigners to visit and spend here, shoring up our miserable balance of payments. Not so. According to reports, only residents of a small fraction the world's 195 nations may visit the US without a visa issued in advance. (For the record, these are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The Visa Waiver program might also be extended -- or perhaps already has been -- to Hungary, Lithuania and Latvia.)
Despite the favorable (to most everyone else) exchange rate, arrivals of overseas visitors to our shores have declined, even though global travel continues to increase. According to figures released at the 2007 Travel Industry Association PowWow, inbound visitation has been declining from Asia and South America and increasing only marginally from Europe.
Back in January, the Times of London wrote, "We would like to apologise for a terrible omission in last Sunday’s feature 10 Steps to a Stress-Free Summer. We forgot to include 'Don’t go to the USA'." Times reporter Matt Rudd went on to detail some of the hoops overseas guests need to jump through and unpleasantness they often have to endure:
"A preflight e-interrogation, epic queues at immigration, thin-lipped questioning from aggressive border guards, and an outside chance of a rubber-gloved rectal rummage are all part of the fun. So, if [Department of Homeland Security chief Michael] Chertoff and co want to tighten Fortress America further, it’s time we considered other more welcoming holiday options. Such as Iran or North Korea. Here are a few sunny alternatives to consider before you book your flight, take your shoes off and try to convince our friends stateside that you’re not intent on the destruction of America, you’ve just come for the hamburgers." Rudd went on to make suggestions for such alternatives: Hong Kong instead of New York, EuroDisney in France instead of RealDisney in California or Florida, Spain's Extremadura instead of the American West, Macao instead of Last Vegas, Australia's Great Ocean Road instead of California's Route 1.
Alert about just this topic, WorldHum has noted that, thanks to our national fear-driven inhospitality, "Humanity is staying away from the United States in droves—overseas arrivals in the U.S. have declined 11 percent this decade, from 26 million in 2000 to 23 million in 2007. This, while travel booms worldwide: It’s the world’s largest industry, worth $5 trillion, growing 6 percent a year, employing almost a quarter-billion people, projected to reach $9 trillion by 2015, when it will be 11 percent of the world’s economy. With the U.S. dollar becoming confetti, you’d think more overseas visitors would be headed this way to spend their pounds, euros and other currencies. Worldwide, international arrivals grew by 52 million in 2007. Not here."
Applying for a tourist visa is an exercise in perseverance. The applicant must visit a US embassy or consulate in person, plunk down $131 Per person and submit to a consular official's “interview,” designed to eliminate potential terrorists or revolutionaries from the mix. The guidelines appear to be fuzzy, and in keeping with its lack of transparency in other areas of our government, as WorldHum put it, "you don’t get your money back if you apply for a visa and are rejected. Why are people rejected? Scruffiness, unsuitability, past contributions to Greenpeace or general uncollateralized ickiness. Read the State Department guidelines—visitors must satisfy consular officers that they deserve to enter. But consular officials do not have to explain reasons for rejection, and they don’t."
Once a visitor actually has arrived in the US, Department of Homeland Security officers take the visitors' picture and fingerprints -- just as if they had been arrested for something more severe than a speeding violation. In other words, America treats the rest of the world's citizens as if they were criminals. Embarrassing, isn't it? My husband and I will get on a plane in Denver, disembark in London and spend a bit over a week trying to stretch our pathetic dollars. But we aren't going to be photographed, fingerprinted or put on the UK's most-unwanted list.
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