Waits of more than 500 days for a US travel visa. Airport delays due to a shortage of customs officials. The U.S. Travel Association has heard all these issues and is working to solve them.
U.S. Travel Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman discussed the current state of play in travel and the most common pain points for travellers to the USA, including excessive visa wait times and customs processing delays at airports, at IPW23.
The US has an ambitious goal to welcome 90 million visitors and USD$280 billion annual spend by 2027, however, the peak industry body recognises the challenges faced by the travel industry.
“To meet this goal, we need to be laser-focused on removing barriers to international travel,” Mr Freeman said.
“We need to be more urgent, more aggressive and more intentional than we’ve been in the past. It took far too long to get our borders reopened. And it was only days ago that the vaccine requirement was lifted for inbound travellers.
“These barriers send the wrong message to the world.”
The comments came as the U.S Travel Association stages its signature IPW23 event, a national showcase of American travel, now on in San Antonio, Texas.
Barriers to US travel
Issues such as visa wait times of more than 500 days, entry delays at US Customs and the current air travel experience are impacting inbound international travel and the industry recovery.
Mr Freeman said the U.S. Travel Association is pushing the US Government to solve the problem with legislation aimed at lowering wait times to be introduced in the US Congress.
“We have challenged the State Department to get wait times down to under 30 days at every US consulate around the world. That is what we believe is acceptable and we will continue to remain focused on achieving that goal,” Mr Freeman said.
Customs concerns
With 1,700 fewer Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Officers, international travellers are also experiencing average customs wait times of more than one hour at top US airports.
U.S. Travel is advocating for more staff as well as more pre-clearance locations around the world so travellers do not need to meet with a CBP officer on arrival.
“There needs to be a world-class air travel system that is welcoming, efficient and fully equipped to meet the demand,” Mr Freeman said.
“I think the best thing we can do for the consumer is build a functioning air travel system. There’s a lot of talk about fines and fees and other things that the government might want to put in place.
“My suggestion would be to fix the problem and then we don’t have to worry about fines and fees. So that’s what we’re pushing the Federal Government to do.”
Laser-focused on travel recovery
The creation of the Assistant Secretary for Travel & Tourism within the Department of Commerce is a significant recent development and the first time the US has a high-level Senate official tasked with coordinating a national travel strategy.
“We must remain fiercely competitive in an ever more competitive travel environment. This new position should put the US on par with every other G20 nation,” Mr Freeman noted.
“We’ve made a lot of progress in building back international travel since the world shut down a little over three years ago.
“But there is so much more potential to grow this sector over the coming years to build an industry that works more seamlessly and to improve and modernise our systems.”
Read more of our IPW coverage. Find out why Brand USA is more optimistic about the future of the travel industry than ever before here.
For more info, head to ustravel.org
