Visa reform to boost international arrivals, create jobs: US Travel Association

The US Travel Association has rallied behind new visa reform legislation, claiming the legislation will address "problems with the US visa system that are currently discouraging international visitors from doing business and traveling here".

According to the US Travel Association, HR 3039, the ‘Welcoming Business Travelers and Tourists to America Act of 2011’, introduced by Nevada Congressman Joe Heck (R), will increase international travel to America, creating some 1.3 million American jobs.

“Increasing travel to the United States is the most effective form of economic stimulus,” US Travel Association president and chief executive Roger Dow said.

The bill calls for a 12-day visa-processing standard and visa videoconferencing in cities without a US consulate.

While long-haul travellers worldwide grew by 60 million from 2000 to 2010, the United States has seen less than two percent growth in long-haul arrivals in the same decade, said the US Travel Association.

Should America get back some of its share of global long-haul travel (which dropped to 12.4 percent in 2010), the US Travel Association claims an additional 1.3 million American jobs would be created by 2020 compared with 2010.

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