Those of us in the U.S. Travel Industry have been pushing Congress to get off its partisan ass and pass the Travel Promotion Act. Leaders there say they'll get right to it, ummm, today.
But, as it so often is the case, what we see as a solution to this nation's woeful dereliction of duty when it comes to tourism-based economic development is viewed through a completely different lens abroad.
Like this post from Gadling in which a columnist from across the pond is simply aghast that America would tack on additional fees on top of the already onerous process to visit...just to have the extra cash to invite people to grab their ankles and take it.
Interesting view...and one that I, as someone used to grabbing his ankles, hadn't thought of.
I am a tad confused as to what lasting effects of this bill would be? I wrote about this on my site, the problems I face when going to America will not be solved with a 10 dollar fee. The market for extended stop overs has been all but destroyed by the attitudes of the border security.
Maybe they will use the money to give them a raise, might make them less grumpy.
Posted by: Graham | September 13, 2009 at 06:29