Sent my passport off to Philadelphia last week for routine renewal, then got unexpected assignment to cover a travel symposium in Italy...next week! No chance of getting new passport in time. Called State Department, expecting endless bureaucracy, got helpful advice on first ring. Used automated system to schedule interview in Seattle, got appointment within the hour. Impressive staff at Passport Office. At least one federal agency doing things right, makes leaving home a breeze.
Sadly, not so easy for foreigners to visit US. "Rude immigration officials and visa delays keep millions of foreign visitors away from the United States, hurt the country’s already battered image, and cost the U.S. billions of dollars in lost revenue," according to a Discover America Partnership report.
No surprise: the value of international tourism has never been appreciated by most Americans. We have 15 times the population of Australia, for instance, but the government Down Under spends 15 times as much as Uncle Sam to promote tourism, over 200 times as much per citizen. Two cents for the US, four bucks for the Aussies. "G'day" brings in billions.
No wonder that the perception (let alone the reality) that we're a xenophobic nation hurts the domestic tourism industry. (Latest estimates: $40 billion a year in lost revenue.) We need to dust off that welcome mat. Homeland Security could take a few lessons from State about customer service.
Posted by Ronald Holden at November 21, 2006 9:53 AMI was in Italy in September '06 and challenged by authorities that my passport was fake? I was buying euros in a bank. And they were(partly)right? Because the newly issued legitimate passport spelled my name wrong by one letter and I didn't notice it. It was 1:00 p.m. and everyone wanted to go to lunch, including the police, so they didn't make an issue of it. That's Italy!
Posted by: Dave L at November 25, 2006 10:09 AMExcellent job!
Posted by: judy mcneely at November 21, 2006 1:11 PMRon, have a nice trip to Italy. Scott and I came back to US from PV via LAX last week. We were waiting for our bags and over heard a US customs agent speaking to mostly non-american passengers coming off a couple of flights. we couldn't believe our ears, and we were not the only people off the PV flight who were agast. The guy had a very heavy eastern European accent and was about 7 feet tall: He kept saying, "What are you doing here?" "You got any food?" "Why are you here?"
The tone and line of questioning was unpleasant.....could it have been because most of the people were off a flight from Bombay? Or does he talk to everyone like that? Anyone's guess...
Are we being over sensitive? How is it these days when Americans travel off the beaten path/my last trip to some place off beat was India in 1989, the airport experience was right out of Franz Kaffa......