Visitors say U.S. is no vacation

Foreign travel reporters who made their way to Anaheim for an industry conference this week know why international travel to this country hasn’t recovered since 9/11: It’s too much of a hassle.

Travel and tourism officials held a media event Tuesday at the Travel Industry Assn.’s International Pow Wow to promise to do a better job rolling out the welcome mat. They were upstaged by reporters who told horror stories about protracted visa application processes and lengthy airport security lines.

German public radio’s Rudiger Edelmann said he spent 95 minutes in a winding queue leading to an understaffed immigration desk in Chicago and, even with a two-hour layover, missed his flight and was separated from his luggage.

With those kinds of headaches, a visitor would form a negative impression, Edelmann said, joking: “He would be to the United States two times -- the first and the last time.”

The story didn’t surprise Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and of the Travel Industry Assn.

“Our process is neither friendly nor efficient, nor does it welcome foreign visitors,” he said. “We are leaving an enormous vacuum around the world for other destinations to step into.”

They are doing just that. Even with the dollar’s value slumping -- which boosts foreigners’ purchasing power here -- many are shunning the U.S. and flocking to such countries as Australia, China and Turkey.

Global travel as a whole, in fact, has been on the rise since 1992 -- up 61% as of 2006.

The U.S. hasn’t grabbed its share of that increase. What’s more, the number of international visitors hasn’t rebounded to pre-Sept. 11 levels. There were 51.2 million foreign visitors in 2000 and 51 million in 2006.

The fall-off has cost the U.S. $94 billion, according to an industry study.

What’s wrong with the U.S.? In a recent survey, more than 2,000 international travelers rated the U.S. airport arrival process the “world’s worst” by greater than a 2-1 ratio over the next worst, the Mideast.

The survey, conducted for a coalition called Discover America Partnership, found that 54% of respondents thought U.S. immigration officials were rude and that 57% felt the U.S. didn’t want their travel business.

There are a few bright spots: New York and Las Vegas have been attracting increasing numbers of international tourists. The two cities spend tens of millions every year to promote themselves and have tourist offices in several countries.

For its part, the U.S. Department of Commerce has budgeted $3.9 million this year for marketing the country to international tourists.

Malaysia will spend $117.9 million; Tunisia, $43 million; and Turkey, $80 million.

The Travel Industry Assn. and Discover America Partnership, a coalition of business executives who want to improve the country’s image, are lobbying Congress to boost spending to $200 million a year. They also want the government to make U.S. travel by foreigners easier without compromising security.

“Anybody who operates a business knows that if you’re not out in front of the customer, you will lose share,” said Roger Dow, the association’s chief executive.

The industry wants the government to hire more customs agents, waive visa requirements for more countries, process visas within 30 days and create an international registered travel program that would speed arrivals-processing for frequent visitors. Legislation to do all that has either passed the Senate or will soon be introduced, industry officials said.

“Congress is finally realizing, five years after 9/11, that travel and security are not mutually exclusive,” said Geoff Freeman, executive director of Discover America. “You can continue to ignore the problem and shoot the messenger, but they [the foreign reporters] made it very clear to us today how these people perceive the U.S. entry process.”

One change slated at airports isn’t winning international fans.

Later this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will begin scanning all 10 fingers of foreign visitors, rather than just two, to reduce the number of “false positive” fingerprint matches that require a traveler to be pulled out of line and interviewed. Kimberly Weissman, a department spokeswoman, said the new system would be tested at 10 airports.

With all 10 fingerprints on file, matching accuracy increases from 96% to 99%, Weissman said, and that should speed the arrival process for everyone.

“It’s not that we’re trying to make it difficult to come here,” she said.

But the travel reporters in Anaheim called the expanded fingerprinting system another knee-jerk reaction to terrorist fears and another sign that the U.S. has gone overboard when it comes to security.

“How would you feel as an American if you came to Germany and the first thing you were asked is to give all 10 fingerprints?” said Thomas Hartung, editor of German travel magazine Travel One. “I know of no other country that does that.”

Discover America’s Freeman said other countries were also adopting what are known as biometric security measures. In any event, he said, when it comes to security, “we are not going to go backward in the United States.”

kimi.yoshino@latimes.com