Skip to Content

Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Map of the world

Travel to US declines despite global tourism boom

The US Commerce Department reports that the United States is the only major country in the world to which travel has declined, even though there's a global tourism boom happening. The numbers are depressing: Japanese visits declined from 5 million in 2000 to 3.6 million in 2006, for example. So what's the deal? With our crappy dollar, the US is becoming a bargain destination. So why aren't tourists flocking to our shores?

The answer, according to a November 26 Newsweek article titled "America the Unwelcoming," is, simply put, that it's a pain in travelers' rear ends just trying to get here. For example, it takes 69 days in Mumbai simply to process a visa request to the US (perhaps explaining a 10 percent decline in business travel to the US between 2004 and 2005 -- while similar travel to Europe increased by 8 percent). Then, bureaucrats are being extra careful about granting visas -- as the article stated, "No one wants to be the person who lets in the next terrorist." Thus, any irregularity is cause to "stop, question, arrest and deport."

Is it any wonder tourist numbers are declining?

Filed under: Arts and Culture, North America, United States

Search Travel Deals

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Gadling Features

Categories

Become our Fan on Facebook!

Featured Galleries (view all)

The Volvo Ocean Race onboard Team Abu Dhabi
Virgin Galactic's Gateway to Space
Breakfasts around the world
FoodFlags
Outrageous State Fair Foods
The world's ten most uninhabited countries
Yellowstone in pictures: 2011
Most crowded islands on earth
Burj Khalifa: The tallest building on the planet

Our Writers

Grant Martin

Editor-in-chief

RSS Feed

Don George

Features Editor

RSS Feed

View more Writers