Overseas Visitors to U.S. Start Paying $14 for Tourism Promotion

[bigdelta 46]

Visitors to the U.S. will today start paying a $14 fee to promote travel from overseas under a law sought by companies such as Marriott International Inc., Walt Disney Co., American Express Co. and Loews Corp.

 

The fee, which may generate about $105 million a year, will pay for advertisements, trade-show participation and journalist visits “to convince travelers around the world that we want their business,” Jeff Freeman, executive vice president of the U.S. Travel Association, said in an interview.

 

The tourism industry is betting the fees will help overcome a 2.4 million decline in overseas visitors last year from 25.9 million in 2000, according to a report by the association. The Washington-based group’s 1,700 members include Disney, Avis Budget Group Inc. and Carnival Corp., according to its website. Airlines and the European Union are among critics of the fee.

 

“If the idea is to make the United States more welcoming, raising a tax seems to be counterintuitive,” Steve Lott, spokesman for the Montreal-based International Air Transport Association, said in an interview. Ending long waiting lines and revising complicated entry procedures would lure more travelers than ads, he said.

 

Travelers from 36 countries will pay the charge when they register to visit the U.S. for as long as 90 days without a visa. The countries include the U.K., Japan, Germany, France, South Korea and Australia. An overseas traveler will pay the fee once during a two-year period.

 

President Barack Obama signed legislation in March to institute the fee. The travel association, formerly called Discover America Partnership, had pushed for the levy since 2007. The travel-promotion fee is $10, with the Homeland Security Department keeping $4 for application processing. The law expires Sept. 30, 2015.

 

‘Additional Onus’

 

Cecilia Malmstroem, European commissioner for home affairs, said in a statement last month that the fee “will be an additional onus” for European visitors to the U.S.

 

“We’re getting to be a rather overtaxed industry,” Simon Talling-Smith, British Airways Plc’s executive vice president for the Americas, said in an interview. “That’s not stopping people, at a time when their treasury coffers need to be full.”

 

Other countries might adopt similar charges in retaliation, or because they like the concept, said Lott, whose group represents 230 airlines worldwide.

 

The U.S. is “the only developed nation in the world that is not promoting itself to attract visitors,” Freeman said. “Other countries have been at the game, and we’ve been standing at the starting line.”

 

To contact the reporter on this story: John Hughes in Washington at jhughes5@bloomberg.net.

[joekicker 53]

Well, this has been a misleading story all along. *IF* you do not have a visa to the US, you have to pay $14 for the non-visa stamp for a short stay.

 

I'm not defending this unprecedented tax, just pointing out there's less to it than meets the eye. And yes, an actual visa costs $140 and yes getting the non-visa stamp (on the Internet) was already a pain and now it's going to be a $14 pain and yes, the ridiculous government getting $14 for all the bad PR is definitely stupid not to mention onerous.

 

But rising taxes under His rule isn't even news, really.

 

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[bigdelta 46]

It's certainly not as onerous as the $100 fee Chile charges to enter but at least it's good for the life of your passport.

[Fondles 94]

The lack of visitors is due to the 7/11 shit were the gumbyment dropped the two trade centers...they then tightened up the import controls at the border.........why are they surprised tourist numbers are dropping ........surely they are a "world power"......are they really that dumb..................

[joekicker 53]

The lack of visitors is due to the 7/11 shit were the gumbyment dropped the two trade centers...they then tightened up the import controls at the border.........why are they surprised tourist numbers are dropping ........surely they are a "world power"......are they really that dumb..................

 

I don't think anyone's surprised tourist numbers are dropping, since tourist numbers are rising. And I don't think a $14 or $140 charge will affect that, either.

 

I doubt many of them are attracted by the 7-Elevens though. The Thai ones are MUCH better if that's your travel purpose.

 

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[MM 6,562]

The lack of visitors is due to the 7/11 shit were the gumbyment dropped the two trade centers...they then tightened up the import controls at the border.........why are they surprised tourist numbers are dropping ........surely they are a "world power"......are they really that dumb..................

 

 

Ok, that's it! I'm only going to Family Mart from now on.

[picoman 1]

It's certainly not as onerous as the $100 fee Chile charges to enter but at least it's good for the life of your passport.

 

The $14 is stupid.

 

Reciprocity fee, and it is now $131. Most South American countries are levying it now because that's about what we charge them for applying for a visa.

 

P.S. Just enter Chile on your Chilean Passport.