The United States will now charge all tourists $US10 for entry in an attempt to build up a $US200 million marketing fund to advertise the country as a top overseas destination, but don’t expect Australia’s struggling tourism sector to consider a similar plan.
The local industry has warned a similar move won’t necessarily work here due to the already expensive nature of Australian travel.
Last week US president Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act into law. Bill sponsor, Senator Amy Klobuchar, said the bill will help attract 1.6 million new visitors from overseas and contribute $US4 billion to the economy.
“Obviously, all of us believe that America is the best place to travel,” Obama said. “It attracts millions of visitors every year, but we can attract more. Our ability to highlight the incredible bounty of this country, the spectacular sights, scenery, people is something we should all be encouraging.”
Currently tourists entering the US can apply for the “visa waiver” program, which grants access for free for about three months. The new fee is the first time the US has used a Government-sponsored scheme to help boost tourism and help its struggling economy.
The legislation comes as tourism to the US is dwindling, but the Act’s sponsors hope it will create tens of thousands of jobs and help to cut the country’s massive deficit by about $US400 million.
The move is similar in nature to the campaign undertaken by a group of Australian executives, including former Qantas chief executives Geoff Dixon and James Strong, to establish a worldwide brand for the country.
But Peter O’Reilly, chief executive of Tourism Whitsundays, says a similar move won’t work in Australia due to the expensive nature of Australian travel.
“Such an idea is indeed worth considering, but one of the great problems we have in international tourism is that we have become such an expensive destination. We saw airline prices go through the roof due to fuel in the past couple of years, with the one route being the exception the US trans-pacific due to competition. The high dollar makes it so expensive.”
“To go and put more taxes on that just makes it more difficult, so we just want to be very careful that it isn’t a self-defeating type of exercise.”
There are indeed signs travel is becoming more expensive for overseas visitors. Travel group Flight Centre has reportedly predicted a possible loss of $6 million for its US business, which consists of Liberty Travel, GoGo Vacations and FCm Travel Solutions.
While the company expects business to pick during the next few months, the peak period for US travel, there is still a high possibility of a loss.
O’Reilly says introducing a fee into the current Australian economic climate will create a problem for businesses and tourists alike.
“I think the Americans are in a very different situation. It may very well be a good time for them to introduce this and help their economy, but here… it’s a different situation altogether.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
