Tight security turning away tourists to US

LONDON: Tough security measures at US airports are putting potential visitors off visiting the US, the head of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) said in an interview.

WTTC president Jean-Claude Baumgarten said the country’s share of international travel was slipping in part because of the tighter controls at airports, instated following the September 11, ’01, suicide attacks. “The impact of the security measures is taking its toll,” Mr Baumgarten said. “We say: Listen. (The US) has to officially recognise 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 US) 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,” Mr Baumgarten said.

The WTTC predicts good growth in overall tourism worldwide over the next 10 years, but forecasts that the US will fall behind the international growth rate by one percentage point. “Every percentage point is worth $13.4bn a year, or 153,000 jobs,” said Mr Baumgarten, adding that Washington had to spend a minimum of $200m to increase its share of the tourism market. The US remains the world’s largest visitor economy even though numbers are falling.

The number of visitors to the country was 7% lower than in 2000, while international arrivals globally had jumped 17% over the same five-year period. Mr Baumgarten’s comments came as the WTTC launched a manifesto for travel and tourism in the US.