The U.S. Senate yesterday passed the Travel Promotion Act (a companion bill is now in committee in the House) which would impose a $10 fee on those foreign visitors not paying for a visa to enter the United States. U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow said the legislation would help the United States "strengthen its image in the world as visitors leave with an improved perception of our country and her people." Perhaps, but on the front end, the U.S. image perceived by some may be weakening as a result.
On the same day that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection trumpeted the success of the
Electronic System of Travel Authorization, the European Commission's ambassador to the United States slammed the program. And these two sides are supposed to hammer out an all encompassing second-stage Open Skies agreement? Good luck.
Last month, John Bruton, the European Union's ambassador to the United States, spoke at the German Marshall Fund to mark the availability of a new book on Open Skies. During his speech, Bruton laid out the now-familiar European perspective: the U.S. should allow more foreign ownership of its domestic carriers and give up its restrictions against non-U.S. airlines operating on domestic U.S. routes.
