Inbound "travelers find or perceive rude
and arrogant treatment by U.S. government officials to be the
biggest obstacle to coming into [the U.S.]," according to a new
survey released by the Discover America Partnership, a
Washington-based inbound travel advocacy group
More than 2,000
travelers from around the world were canvassed for the survey
between Oct. 25 and Nov. 9, which was designed to gauge America's
image abroad.
The results found
that five years after the 9/11 terrorism attacks, inbound travelers
"are more afraid of U.S. government officials than the threat of
terrorism or crime," said Geoff Freeman, the Partnership's
executive director, during a media teleconference. "Two-thirds of
travelers fear they will be detained at the [U.S.] border because
of a simple mistake or misstatement."
Furthermore,
Freeman said, "fifty-four percent of international travelers said
immigration, customs and other government officials that they
interact with at airports and other [U.S.] points of entry are
rude. Travelers find our entry process unpredictable and
challenging at the very least."
That is creating
an "enormous missed opportunity," Freeman said, since "the survey
also revealed that when
those travelers get beyond the entry process, get beyond the
airport or whatever other means of entry they may be going through,
their experience in the U.S., is in their own words, 'great.'
"
The survey also
indicated that the perceived image of the U.S. by inbound travelers
was not necessarily influenced by U.S. foreign policies or the war
in Iraq. For instance, 67% said they disagreed with the statement
that they strongly opposed U.S policies in the world, while 33%
said they agreed.
The overriding
difficulty, for the majority of inbound travelers (61%) was the
U.S. did very little to encourage inbound travel relative to other
countries.
"What we learned
from these travelers should be, frankly, a wake up call to the U.S.
government," Freeman said. "Welcoming visitors into this country is
public diplomacy 101. And based on what we've heard from these
travelers, we are failing."
Travel to the
U.S. is down 17% this year, Freeman said, but it was unclear
whether the drop was directly due to the growing negative image of
the U.S., U.S border policies, the world economy, or a combination
of factors.
The Partnership
intends to use the results of the survey, and others it has in the
works, to convince Congress to formulate policies that would
encourage inbound visits.
The Partnership
survey is the latest study to indicate the U.S. is developing an
image problem with inbound visitors.
Earlier this
year, a separate inbound group, Business for Diplomatic Action,
released a study which revealed negative perceptions of the U.S.
have been formulated over the past several years, if not
decades.
However, it
concluded, the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the government's more
stringent, post 9/11 visa policies, along with other factors, have
combined to further portray the U.S. as less welcoming to
travelers.
"The direct
consequence of the decline of America's reputation in the world is
more and more people are consciously saying 'I don't want to visit
America,' " said Keith Reinhard, BDA president and chairman
emeritus of DDB Worldwide, a New York-based advertising
firm.
Meanwhile in
September, the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, a
deliberative body convened by the Commerce Dept., issued a 38-page
report called "Restoring America's Travel Brand."
The report
contended that if the U.S. were to increase its share of the world
travel market by 1%, it could gain 8.1 million more inbound
tourists who in turn would generate $13.4 billion additional
revenue, enough to pay for 153,000 new jobs.
But instead of
growing the U.S. share of inbound tourists, certain government
policies, including the lack of a national marketing campaign, are
combining to do just the opposite, according to the
report.
The travel
industry has proposed developing a $300 million inbound marketing
effort in cooperation with the U.S. to both attract more visitors
to the U.S. and bolster the U.S.'s image overseas.
To contact reporter Michael Milligan, send e-mail to [email protected].