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US could ‘double visitors’ by relaxing security
WTTC Summit Special: A US official has defended the country’s approach to border security but admits many potential visitors regard the strict requirements as a barrier to entry.
Speaking at the WTTC Summit in New Delhi, Qatar Tourism Authority chairman Akbar Al Baker claimed US security was putting visitors off. “The US is going overboard with its regimes and security and what they are doing is limiting tourism.
“They could have double the number of visitors but people are shying away because of the overboard security,” he said.
He even went as far as to suggest that former Department of Homeland Security officials would, in years to come, admit that the country’s tight approach to security was “counterproductive”.
Also contributing to the debate was Douglas Baker, deputy assistant secretary for service industries, tourism and finance at the US Department of Commerce. He defended the approach adopted by the US government.
“What we strive to do is balance border security with economic security. To the extent that rules have been an impediment to people visiting the US, it is not something that I have seen and figures are testament to this.”
He claimed that expenditure levels of visitors to the US had now reached pre 9/11 levels and that visitor numbers were not far off.
“There is a perception that our rules are more of a barrier than they actually are. But that is one of the challenges we have.”
Both men were taking part in an afternoon discussion entitled: “The power to influence destination success”. Also taking part was Tourism Minister for Greece, Dimitris Avramopoulos, who outlined the country’s strategy for promoting tourism in the wake of the Olympic Games. “Tourism was the sector that benefited most from the Olympics,” he said.
Report by Ginny McGrath
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