[Senate Hearing 112-134]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 112-134
TOURISM IN AMERICA: REMOVING BARRIERS
AND PROMOTING GROWTH
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMPETITIVENESS, INNOVATION, AND EXPORT PROMOTION
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
APRIL 5, 2011
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman
DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas,
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts Ranking
BARBARA BOXER, California OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JIM DeMINT, South Carolina
FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
MARK PRYOR, Arkansas ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota ROY BLUNT, Missouri
TOM UDALL, New Mexico JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
MARK WARNER, Virginia PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania
MARK BEGICH, Alaska MARCO RUBIO, Florida
KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire
Ellen L. Doneski, Staff Director
James Reid, Deputy Staff Director
Bruce H. Andrews, General Counsel
Ann Begeman, Republican Staff Director
Brian M. Hendricks, Republican General Counsel
Rebecca Seidel, Republican Chief Counsel
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMPETITIVENESS, INNOVATION, AND EXPORT PROMOTION
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota, Chairman ROY BLUNT, Missouri, Ranking
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JIM DeMINT, South Carolina
MARK PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
TOM UDALL, New Mexico JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
MARK WARNER, Virginia KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire
MARK BEGICH, Alaska
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on April 5, 2011.................................... 1
Statement of Senator Klobuchar................................... 1
Letter, dated April 4, 2011 to Senator Amy Klobuchar, from
Russell St. John, Senior Vice President of Global
Marketing, Datacard Group.................................. 3
Statement of Senator Blunt....................................... 4
Statement of Senator Ensign...................................... 5
Statement of Senator Ayotte...................................... 6
Statement of Senator Begich...................................... 6
Statement of Senator Boozman..................................... 31
Witnesses
Hon. Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Manufacturing and Services, U.S. Department of Commerce........ 7
Prepared statement........................................... 9
David T. Donahue, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa
Services, U.S. Department of State............................. 11
Prepared statement........................................... 13
John Wagner, Executive Director, Admissibility and Passenger
Programs, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security............... 16
Prepared statement........................................... 18
Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman of the Board, Corporation for
Travel Promotion............................................... 34
Prepared statement........................................... 35
Nancy Johnson, Executive Vice President Development, Carlson
Hotels, Americas............................................... 38
Prepared statement........................................... 39
John Sprouls, CEO, Universal Orlando Resort; and Executive Vice
President, Universal Parks and Resorts......................... 42
Prepared statement........................................... 44
Roger Dow, President and CEO, U.S. Travel Association............ 59
Prepared statement........................................... 61
Appendix
Hon. Tom Udall, U.S. Senator from New Mexico, prepared statement. 79
Response to written questions submitted to Hon. Nicole Y. Lamb-
Hale by:
Hon. Amy Klobuchar........................................... 79
Hon. Mark Begich............................................. 80
Hon. Roy Blunt............................................... 80
Letter to Senators Klobuchar and Blunt from David T. Donahue,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, United States Department of State.. 81
Response to written questions submitted to David T. Donahue by:
Hon. Amy Klobuchar........................................... 83
Hon. Mark Begich............................................. 86
Hon. Roy Blunt............................................... 87
Response to written questions submitted to John Wagner by:
Hon. Amy Klobuchar........................................... 89
Hon. Mark Begich............................................. 91
Hon. Roy Blunt............................................... 92
Response to written question submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to Roger
Dow............................................................ 94
Written questions submitted to Stephen J. Cloobeck by:
Hon. Tom Udall............................................... 95
Hon. Mark Warner............................................. 95
TOURISM IN AMERICA: REMOVING BARRIERS AND PROMOTING GROWTH
----------
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation and
Export Promotion,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m., in
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Amy
Klobuchar, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA
Senator Klobuchar. OK, I think we're going to get started.
Thank you, everyone, for coming to this important
Subcommittee hearing on tourism. We're really excited about
this. We have a number of Senators here; Senator Blunt, who
just signed on to be the Ranking Member of this subcommittee:
He has a long, long history of support for the tourism in
Missouri, and all across the country, so I was very excited
when I found out he was going to be the Ranking Republican.
Senator Ayotte is here, Senator Ensign, and Senator Begich.
Thank you for joining us.
I also want to thank the witnesses who have come, some from
a long way; but you guys like to travel, so you're OK with
that.
I think when we look at this issue, to me, this is about
jobs, whether it's a tourist traveling for business or a family
traveling for vacation, each foreign visitor to our country
spends an average of $4,000.00 when they come to our country.
You multiply that by several million, and we're talking about
some serious money, not to mention some serious benefits for
our economy. In 2009 alone, spending by overseas visitors
supported some 900,000 American jobs and paid $23 billion in
wages to American workers.
And, so there is no question that international tourism
represents a key force of our economy; whether it's visiting
Las Vegas or whether it's visiting the mountains in Alaska and
the Great Forest--there you go--Branscombe, Missouri, or--I'm
ready for this--Lake Winnipesaukee, and I said it right. Yes.
OK, that's good. But, I won't mention the Mall of America or
Duluth, or any of the great things that we have.
So, here's the story, though: While foreign travelers still
flock to America, we are losing our share of the market to
other countries. Between the years 2000 and 2009, the American
share of global tourism decreased by 31 percent. Now, we know
we've had a tough economic time, but this was going on before
we had the tough economic time.
This decline represented $509 billion in lost spending,
441,000 lost jobs. So, we need to get back in the game here.
That's what we've been working so hard on this committee to do;
but we took a first big step with passing the Travel Promotion
Act.
I was proud to work on that bill. Senator Ensign played a
major leadership role on that bill, as did Senator Dorgan, and
we got that bill through. One of the provisions created the
Corporation for Travel Promotion, or CTP, a public/private
partnership passed with developing advertising campaigns to
promote U.S. abroad and educate travelers about our country. As
we all know, it's not going to cost us, the taxpayer, a cent of
taxpayer money. It's paid for by a $10.00 fee on foreign visas,
and we've been paying that for other countries to advertise
against us, so it's time for us to get in the game; and it will
make a major difference.
The other thing that we want to focus on today is the Model
Ports of Entry Program or MPOE. The goal of the MPOE is to make
the Customs and Immigration process more favorable for
international travelers; and the program is now operating in 20
of our country's busiest international airports. There's still
room for improvement. In some airports international travelers
wait more than 2 hours before clearing customs.
I know the Homeland Security Department is taking steps to
make our airports more hospitable; and I was pleased that they
are actually showing the video that we highlighted in one of
our previous committee hearings that I chaired; and it's now
being shown in those 20 airports. Now we have to get it on
bigger screens, but we'll let the travel industry figure out
how to do that.
Visa backlog: There's another key area where we can make it
easier for tourists to visit the United States; that is the
visa application process. It doesn't do much good to promote
the U.S. to foreign travelers when those foreign travelers
can't get a visa for months to visit the United States of
America.
In a recent survey 73 percent of respondents said they
would not visit the U.S. if they knew that it would take them 2
to 3 months to get a visa. Well, sadly, in several countries--
many countries that's how long it's taking. Beijing--China, as
a whole, it's in the 40's for how many days it takes, but
Beijing, it can take 90 days to get a U.S. visa, and that's
just to get an interview. Meanwhile, to visit countries like
France, Germany, and Canada, it can take 10 days. So how do we
fix this? Well, one way is to hire more temporary consular
officers. I understand that the State Department is currently
planning to do this in China and Brazil.
And I think it's important to point out that these officers
will more than pay for themselves through visa application fees
And that's what we have to keep in mind as we talk about a
tight economy and what we're dealing with right now with the
budget, that we can pay for these people through the visa
application fees that then get the money back to our country
because they're going to spend--the foreign tourists are going
to spend the money when they visit.
Another way to streamline the application process would be
to implement video conferencing technology for interviews so
that potential tourists don't have to travel long distance for
face-to-face visa interviews.
I also think it's worth considering changes to the Visa
Waiver Program which allows citizens from concern countries to
visit the U.S. without a visa. Currently only nine of the
world's 75 largest countries are part of the program.
While keeping in mind that concern security issues are
paramount here, I think we should consider expanding it to
countries like Brazil, which already has reciprocal visa
arrangements in Europe, which could be a great source of
tourism for our country.
These are just a few ideas for improving the game here and
making it easier for Americans to welcome foreign tourists and
to add jobs to our country.
Before I start introducing the witnesses, I'd like to
submit for the record a letter from Russell St. John, the Vice
President of Global Marketing at the Datacard Group, which is a
Minnesota-based technology company. The letter discusses the
importance of creating and implementing international standards
and best practices for verifying a person's identity during the
visa application process. So, without objection, I hereby
submit the letter to the record.
[The information referred to follows:]
Datacard Group
Minnetonka, MN, April 4, 2011
Senator Amy Klobuchar,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Klobuchar,
I'm writing this letter to offer our perspective and to express my
appreciation and support of your efforts related to the Visa Waver
issue. As a company that conducts business throughout the world,
Datacard Group is frequently affected by delays and problems related to
the issuance of travel visas.
As you know, Datacard Group has deployed more than 350 identity
programs in more than 95 countries worldwide. Additionally, financial
institutions in nearly every country of the world use Datacard card
personalization solutions to securely issue the majority of the world's
payment cards.
This experience has given us a unique perspective on how the
quality and security of a country's identity credentials--drivers'
licenses, passports and national identity cards--is directly related
the country's ability to issue travel visas in a timely manner.
The establishment of a citizen's identity is one of the fundamental
considerations when a government agency is asked to issue a travel
visa. The visa application process requires the verification of a
number of support or breeder documents including the citizen's
identification credentials. If those credentials have been issued using
a non-standardized process, the agency is forced to undertake an
independent investigation of the citizen, which is often expensive and
time consuming.
However, if a country has an identification credential program that
is based on internationally accepted standards for vetting and
authentication of citizen identity, the Visa application could bypass
the independent identity investigation.
One such set of internationally recognized standards have been
developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO
is associated with the United Nations and provides tools and best
practices for issuing secure identity documents and to verify the
authenticity of the credential and its holder.
Under ICAO standards, multiple mechanisms are utilized to not only
verify identity, but also to prevent counterfeiting and fraud,
including the use of smart chip enabled credentials. To date, nearly
100 countries, including the United States and most of Europe have
adopted this technology in their passport programs and other
identification schemes. As a result of this adoption, the technology
has become more standardized and cost effective to implement.
Standards and best practices are driving down the cost of
implementation of world class identification programs. These
identification programs could be used to substantially reduce the need
for secondary visa investigations, further lowering the cost of visa
programs and speeding their issuance to the applying citizen.
Through changes to its Visa Waiver Program and the resulting
changes in the ICAO standards and recommendations, the U.S. government
played a key early role in driving global adoption of more security in
identification programs. However, the full benefits of these changes
have not yet been realized. For countries that have made these changes,
there are opportunities to use identification more efficiently. For
those that haven't made the changes, it is time to help those countries
realize the benefits. We believe the United States can continue to play
a key role by taking a leadership position on these efforts by
promoting standards and best practices while providing encouragement
and incentive for other countries to adopt them as well.
Senator Klobuchar, thank you once again for your work related to
the Visa Waiver issue. If Datacard Group can be of any assistance in
these endeavors, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Sincerely,
Russell St. John,
Senior Vice President
of Global Marketing,
Datacard Group.
I'd like to now introduce our first panel of witnesses. But
first, before I do that, Senator Blunt, would you like to make
some opening comments?
STATEMENT OF HON. ROY BLUNT,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSOURI
Senator Blunt. Well, I would, Chairman Klobuchar. First of
all, I'd like to say thank you, for holding this hearing today.
I look forward to working with you on this committee. I think
it's critical in so many ways that we not only encourage
foreign travel, but that we also encourage foreign commerce,
and at the same time, help to secure the future of the country.
The travel and tourism industry is an important, and
sometimes an overlooked sector of our economy; I think there's
a sense that somehow this just happens or isn't impacted by gas
prices or visa programs, or other things; and we need to do
what we can to encourage that industry in our country for a
number of reasons.
One reason which you've already mentioned, is that foreign
travelers spend an average of almost $4,000.00 per visit. And
visitors from Brazil and China, two of the world's fastest-
growing populations, spend far more; averaging about $5,000.00,
if you're a traveler from Brazil, and $7,000.00 if you're a
traveler from China. That multiplies in the economy in
incredible ways, and our economy generates billions of dollars,
and tens of thousands of jobs in tourism. So, not only do
foreign travelers spend more than American domestic travelers,
but they stay longer, and they almost always like us better
than they did when they came.
In fact, if there was no other reason to encourage foreign
travel than the foreign policy advantages of having people
visit our country and go home and be greater ambassadors,
frankly, for what the United States is all about, that would be
one of the principle reasons we'd want to encourage travel.
From an economic standpoint it's clear that we need to
encourage foreign travelers to come to the United States to
grow our economy and to create that sense of who we are. That's
why I have been a real proponent of travel promotion policies.
I sponsored, along with Bill Delahunt, the Travel Promotion
Act in the House, in the last Congress. I think we passed it
three times; the third time was the Senate version, and we were
glad that it passed the Senate version, but----
Senator Klobuchar. I'm sure you will.
Senator Blunt.--we kept looking for ways to get that done
and we were glad that our friends in the Senate--you, and
Senator Ensign, and others, were so involved in that.
The other part of this equation, of course, is ensuring
that the process for travel visas for foreign visitors is
secure and streamlined, but, sometimes those two terms come in
conflict with each other. What's the most you can do to make
this process as simple as you can, but at the same time you
want to be sure you don't make it more simple than you should
in ways that don't provide the security we need?
I'm interested, Chairman, in hearing the testimony from
this--great panel that we have before us today. To hear them
talk about the visa waiver system; to talk about the countries
already enrolled in that program; perhaps we can even have a
chance to talk about the countries that are in line, trying to
do the things that they need to do. And I'd also be glad to
hear what some of those things are that come up, either in your
comments or in questions, to be sure that the countries that
have this particular visa waiver advantage and the United
States as well have done the things that we need to do to be
sure that that remains an advantage for people on both ends of
the travelers' destination, maintaining security here, but
continuing to encourage travel from other countries as well.
And, so, Chairman, again, thanks for holding this hearing.
I look forward to both panels.
And I yield back.
Senator Klobuchar. OK. Thank you. Anyone else would like to
make a few comments before the hearing begins?
Senator Ensign?
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN ENSIGN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
Senator Ensign. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think both of you
covered a lot of things that I would have covered in my opening
statement. There's no question though, that the simplest,
biggest issue right now, I think that you raised, has to do
with the visa issue and streamlining that process, and,
obviously, getting more of the consulars hired so that we can
increase the number of people coming to the United States,
because people don't realize that it's either number one or
number two industry in the United States is tourism, and the
more that we can help foreign travelers come into the United
States, it improves our relations with people all over the
world.
It does improve commerce. When people come here, they see
opportunities to invest, and bring dollars to the United
States; not only what they spend in tourism dollars but also
what they spend in investment dollars by coming to the United
States.
So, I think this is a very, very important hearing.
Senator Klobuchar. OK. Senator Ayotte?
STATEMENT OF HON. KELLY AYOTTE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE
Senator Ayotte. Thank you Chairman. I appreciate the
opportunity to serve on this important subcommittee. Coming
from the beautiful state of New Hampshire, tourism is a very
important part of our economy. Really looking at this visa
issue carefully so that we can streamline the process while
protecting national security, I think is very important for our
economy. I look forward to hearing from the witnesses today,
and also working with members of this subcommittee to make sure
that we can continue to encourage international visitors to
come to our country. It is very good for our relationship with
other countries, and also excellent for our economy. We know
very much in our state how important it is and how much it adds
to jobs in New Hampshire and also to our overall relationship
with those around the world.
So, thank you very much.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Senator Begich?
STATEMENT OF HON. MARK BEGICH,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
Senator Begich. Thank you.
I will pass on a statement. I'm anxious for the folks to
testify because I have a shopping list of questions, so I'll
just leave that.
Senator Klobuchar. That sounds very scary for our
witnesses.
Senator Begich. Absolutely.
Senator Klobuchar. OK, we'll start with the Hon. Nicole
Lamb-Hale. She is the Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and
Services of the Department of Commerce, where she helps U.S.
industries succeed internationally by strengthening their
competitive position in foreign markets, to sustain and create
American jobs.
Ms. Lamb-Hale previously worked as a Deputy General Counsel
at Commerce and as managing partner in the Detroit office of an
international law firm. When I introduce all of you and have
you begin.
Next, Mr. David Donahue, who is the Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Visa Services at the Department of State. Mr.
Donahue has been with the State Department for quite some time.
He has been on the front lines of the Consular Office at
various postings around the world, and is intimately familiar
with the challenges faced by our consular offices overseas.
Finally, Mr. John Wagner is the Executive Director,
Admissibility and Passenger Programs, in the Office of Field
Operations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection--that's a
really long title.
Mr. Wagner has 20 years of experience in the field,
beginning his career as a Customs Inspector, and joining the
Office of Field Operations in 1999. At the Customs and Border
Protection he has responsibility was for all travel-related
policies.
So we welcome the three of you.
I also note that we have a second panel, Senator Begich, so
you can keep half your shopping list for the second panel as
well.
All right, we'll start with you, Ms. Lamb-Hale. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF HON. NICOLE Y. LAMB-HALE,
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
FOR MANUFACTURING AND SERVICES,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Ms. Lamb-Hale. Thank you, Chairman Klobuchar, Ranking
Member Blunt and distinguished members of the Subcommittee,
thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you about
the efforts of the International Trade Administration and the
Department of Commerce in implementing the Travel Promotion Act
of 2009 and encouraging travel and tourism in general. In the
United States, travel and tourism is a $1.3 trillion sector of
the economy, supporting 7.7 million American jobs.
The news regarding travel and tourism continues to paint a
positive picture for the United States.
Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announced on March l6 that
a record-breaking 60 million international visitors arrived in
the United States in 2010, shattering by 17 percent the
previous record set in 2000. These international travelers
spent more than $134 billion during their visits, a 12 percent
increase from 2009. For the year 20l0, the United States had a
trade surplus of nearly $32 billion in travel and tourism, and
an increase of 50 percent over the 2009 surplus. The latest
travel and tourism figures underscore the importance of this
industry to strengthen the U.S. economy.
Travel and tourism plays a critical role in the
Department's export promotion strategy. This effort directly
supports President Obama's National Export Initiative goal of
doubling exports by the end of 2014.
Upon the enactment of the TPA, the Department, as required
by that Act, established the Office of Travel Promotion, or
OTP, which is currently housed in my unit of ITA in the Office
of the Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services.
ITA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Services has been
named the interim Director of the OTP. The Department has
actively communicated progress on the TPA's implementation to
this committee, and to industry stakeholders.
The establishment of the OTP in ITA leverages ITA's
longstanding and unmatched expertise, knowledge, and industry
contacts in the travel and tourism sector, much of which
resides in ITA's Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, or
OTTI. As you know, the TPA dictates the creation of the
Corporation for Travel Promotion to enhance the competitiveness
of U.S. exports of the Travel and Tourism industry. As required
by the TPA, the Secretary of Commerce appointed 11 members of
the Corporation's Board of Directors in September 2010,
following consultation with the Secretaries of State and
Homeland Security.
In fulfilling the OTP's liaison duties, the interim OTP
Director and staff have formed a strong relationship with the
Board of the Corporation. The Board holds monthly Board
meetings, and the interim OTP Director and staff have
participated in each one.
In furtherance of the TPA, ITA is closely collaborating
with the DHS and State. ITA has worked closely with DHS to
support its efforts to implement the Electronic System for
Travel Authorization, or ESTA, fee collection system, which
collects federally sourced funds for the Corporation.
Through the interagency Tourism Policy Council, ITA has
partnered with State and DHS to disseminate information
regarding the implementation of the ESTA fee and to explore
ways to better facilitate and communicate improvements into
entry process for foreign visitors into the United States.
These efforts have also engaged the National Security
Council's Interagency Policy Committee, or IPC.
As mentioned earlier, President Obama's National Export
Initiative sets the goals of doubling exports by the end of
2014 to create several million new jobs. Export promotion is
vital to its success.
With a relatively small and strategic federal investment in
export promotion, we can build upon our aggressive efforts to
help American companies sell their American-made goods and
services overseas.
Investments in export promotion boast a great return on
investment. The Fiscal Year 2012 budget request for the ITA
includes an increase of $78.5 million to support NEI-related
efforts, which will create a projected $4.4 billion in
additional exports and 22,000 new jobs. The Fiscal Year 2012
proposed budget will be critical in successfully implementing
the goals of the TPA as well by bringing more foreign visitors
to the U.S., and more foreign buyers, distributors, and
partners to U.S. trade shows.
In closing, the Department of Commerce will maintain
consistent and open communication with the Corporation and its
board, and with staff at DHS and State, leveraging both OTP and
Office of Tourism--Travel and Tourism Industries. We will
continue to coordinate with DHS and State through the IPC and
their inter-agency TPC. We will work with the TPC's Travel
Facilitation subcommittee to consider the Travel and Tourism
Advisory Board's recommendations for improving the U.S. entry
process.
Additionally, we will continue our close collaboration with
the Department of the Treasury and the Corporation to establish
procedures for making disbursements to the Corporation in
accordance with the TPA. This collaboration will ensure the
smooth transfer of funds to the Corporation on an ongoing
basis.
The potential of the TPA to create new opportunities for
U.S. travel and tourism exports plays a critical role in
supporting the President's National Export Initiative and in
stimulating the U.S. economy.
This is an exciting time for the United States to engage in
the global marketplace and proactively compete for
international visitors. After all, more international visitors
to the United States means more people eating in our
restaurants, staying in our hotels, shopping in our malls,
visiting our attractions and learning more about our values and
people.
Chairman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and distinguished
members of the Subcommittee, thank you again for inviting me to
speak, and I will be happy to answer any questions that you
have.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Lamb-Hale follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale, Assistant Secretary of
Commerce for Manufacturing and Services, U.S. Department of Commerce
Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt and distinguished
members of the Subcommittee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to
speak before you about the efforts the International Trade
Administration and Department of Commerce are taking in implementing
the Travel Promotion Act and encouraging travel and tourism in general.
In the United States, travel and tourism is a $1.3 trillion sector of
the economy, supporting 7.7 million American jobs.
The news regarding travel and tourism continues to paint a positive
picture for the United States. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke
announced on March 16, that a record breaking 60 million international
visitors arrived in the United States in 2010, shattering by 17 percent
the previous record set in 2000. These international travelers spent
more than $134 billion during their visits, a 12 percent increase from
2009. For the year 2010, the United States had a surplus of nearly $32
billion in travel and tourism, an increase of 50 percent over the 2009
surplus. In addition, seven of the top 10 countries generating overseas
visitation to the United States posted new records: Australia, Brazil,
France, Italy, India, South Korea, and the People's Republic of China.
These markets combined for a record 26 million overseas visitors,
surpassing the record set by the same group of countries in 2000.
The latest travel and tourism figures underscore the importance of
travel and tourism to strengthening the U.S. economy. Travel and
tourism plays a critical role in the Department of Commerce's
(Department) export promotion strategy. This effort directly supports
President Obama's National Export Initiative goal of doubling exports
by the end of 2014.
The Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (TPA), and its creation of the
Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP), enhances the competitiveness of
the travel and tourism industry and promotes U.S. travel and tourism
exports. Many other nations operate aggressive programs that actively
market their countries as desirable destinations around the world. The
CTP will help the United States join the game and encourage travelers
across the globe to visit our country.
The following is an overview of the Department's efforts to support
the TPA through the establishment of the Office of Travel Promotion
(OTP), to build a relationship with the CTP, and to collaborate with
the Departments of State (State) and Homeland Security (DHS).
The Office of Travel Promotion
The OTP has been established and is currently housed in my unit of
the International Trade Administration (ITA), the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services. ITA's Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Services has been named the interim Director of
the OTP. The Department has actively communicated to apprise the travel
and tourism industry of our progress on the TPA's implementation.
As set forth in the TPA, the functions of the OTP are to: (1) serve
as a liaison to the CTP and support and encourage the development of
programs to increase the number of international visitors to the United
States for business, leisure, educational, medical, exchange, and other
purposes; (2) work with the CTP, the Secretary of State, and the
Secretary of Homeland Security: (a) to disseminate information more
effectively to potential international visitors about documentation and
procedures required for admission to the United States as a visitor,
(b) ensure, with DHS and State, that arriving international visitors
continue to be welcomed with accurate information and in an inviting
manner, (c) to collect accurate data on the total number of
international visitors that visit each state, and (d) to enhance the
entry and departure experience for international visitors through the
use of advertising, signage, and customer service; and (3) support
state, regional, and private sector initiatives to promote travel to
and within the United States.
The establishment of the OTP in ITA leverages ITA's longstanding
and unmatched expertise, knowledge, and industry contacts in the travel
and tourism sector, much of which resides in ITA's Office of Travel and
Tourism Industries (OTTI). Even before the TPA was enacted, ITA was
already actively pursuing many of the functions and responsibilities
assigned to the OTP by the TPA, primarily through OTTI.
The Corporation for Travel Promotion
The TPA established the CTP as a non-profit corporation with the
purpose of promoting the United States as a travel destination. In
accordance with the TPA, the Secretary of Commerce appointed the 11
members of the CTP's Board of Directors (Board) in September 2010,
following consultation with the Secretaries of State and Homeland
Security. ITA played a key role in the process of selecting candidates
for the Board. The initial search for applicants was well-publicized
and included notices in the Federal Register, as well as notices to
trade associations and the general public through ITA's industry
listserve and the OTTI website. Our search produced many extremely
well-qualified applicants.
The members of the Board represent various regions of the United
States, and each individual has experience and expertise in a specific
sector of the U.S. travel and tourism industry as required by the TPA.
The CTP's Board has filed articles of incorporation in the District of
Columbia, established officers (Chair and two Vice Chairs), and
received $2.5 million from the Department of Treasury for start-up
costs. The Board is intent on hiring the Executive Director for the CTP
in the immediate future, and it is actively working to define its
annual objectives, marketing plan and strategy, and annual budget. Mr.
Stephen Cloobeck, the Chairman of the CTP Board, will speak more
specifically on what the CTP is doing to meet the legislative goals of
the TPA.
In fulfilling the OTP's liaison duties, the interim OTP Director
and staff have formed a strong relationship with the Board of the CTP.
The Board holds monthly Board meetings (either in person or via
conference call), and the interim OTP Director and staff have
participated in each one.
Collaboration with the Departments of Homeland Security and State
ITA, through the OTP and OTTI, has worked closely with DHS to
support DHS' efforts to implement the Electronic System for Travel
Authorization (ESTA) fee collection system, which collects the
federally-sourced funds for the CTP. Through the interagency Tourism
Policy Council (TPC), ITA has partnered with DHS and State to
disseminate information regarding the implementation of the ESTA fee
and to explore ways to facilitate the entry process for foreign
visitors into the United States.
DHS and State have been actively engaged in meeting the challenges
posed by an increase in demand for visas and an increase in the number
of travelers to the United States. The Department of Commerce is
working with both DHS and State on an interagency team led by the
National Security Council's Interagency Policy Committee to more
effectively communicate to industry and travelers the efforts the
Departments are making to better serve the traveling public. These
efforts include making visa processing more efficient, secure and
customer-friendly, as well as the shifting of resources to the visa
sections in our embassies abroad and to the U.S. ports-of-entry to
ensure that the entry experience is efficient and welcoming. These
efforts will also support and complement the work of the CTP in
promoting international visitation to the United States.
Report to Congress on the Office of Travel Promotion
As required by the TPA, Secretary Locke provided a description of
the OTP's work to date with the CTP, the Secretary of State, and the
Secretary of Homeland Security to the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation; the Senate Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs; the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations;
the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce; the
House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security; and the House
of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. The report was
transmitted to Congress on March 11, 2011.
Travel Promotion Key to the National Export Initiative
With a relatively small and strategic federal investment in export
promotion, we can build upon our aggressive efforts as part of the
National Export Initiative (NEI) to help American companies sell their
American-made goods and services overseas.
The FY 2012 budget request for the ITA includes an increase of
$78.5 million to support NEI related efforts, which will support a
projected $4.4 billion in additional exports and 22,000 new jobs. The
NEI also involves ITA's continued work to assist companies and create
trading opportunities by identifying, overcoming, and resolving trade
policy issues and barriers and ensuring that our trade partners fully
meet their obligations under our trade agreements. These efforts mean
leading more trade missions; helping U.S. companies win more foreign
procurement bids; and providing more business to business matchmaking
services to U.S. companies. The budget will be critical in successfully
implementing the goals of the Travel Promotion Act as well by bringing
more foreign visitors to the United States and more foreign buyers,
distributors, and partners to U.S. trade shows.
Conclusion
The Department of Commerce will maintain consistent and open
communication with the CTP and its Board, and with staff at DHS and
State, leveraging both the OTP and OTTI. We will continue coordination
with DHS and State through the NSC's Interagency Policy Committee and
the Tourism Policy Council, and we will work with the TPC's Travel
Facilitation subcommittee to consider the recommendations of the Travel
and Tourism Advisory Board for improving the U.S. entry process.
Additionally, we are collaborating closely with the Department of
Treasury and the CTP to establish procedures for making disbursements
to the CTP in accordance with the TPA. This collaboration will ensure
the smooth transfer of funds to the CTP under the TPA on an ongoing
basis.
The potential of the TPA to create new opportunities for U.S.
travel and tourism exports plays a critical role in supporting the
President's National Export Initiative and stimulating the U.S.
economy. This is an exciting time for the United States to engage in
the global marketplace and proactively compete for international
visitors. After all, more international visitors to the United States
means more people eating in our restaurants, staying in our hotels,
shopping in our malls, visiting our attractions and learning about our
values and culture.
Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and distinguished
members of the Subcommittee, thank you again for inviting me to speak.
I will be happy to answer any questions that you have.
Senator Klobuchar. OK, thank you very much.
Mr. Donahue.
STATEMENT OF DAVID T. DONAHUE,
DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR VISA SERVICES, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Mr. Donahue. Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt,
and distinguished members of the Subcommittee, it is a distinct
honor to share with you today the accomplishments of my
colleagues at the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs
in our efforts to facilitate the legitimate travel of millions
of tourists, businesspeople, students, and others to the United
States.
This is a good news story. The good news is that
international arrivals to the United States continue to climb.
In 2010, 60 million international visitors entered the United
States, a 17 percent increase from 2006. As has already been
stated by the Senator, international tourists, business
visitors, and students not only boost our economy, but also
leave here with a better understanding of American culture and
values.
While many of those coming to the United States travel
without visas via the Visa Waiver Program, millions need visas
to come here. For the Bureau of Consular Affairs, our challenge
has been to meet the increasing worldwide demand for visas
without compromising the security of our nation's borders.
In Fiscal Year 2010 we saw a 7.6 percent increase in visa
demand, and issued 6.4 million visas. Through the first 5
months of Fiscal Year 2011, worldwide visa issuances are 13.4
percent higher compared with the same period last year.
Demand for visas climbed at a dramatic pace in the world's
fastest emerging economies. Since 2005, the visa issuances in
China have doubled, and increased by 50 percent in India, 52
percent in Russia, 24 percent in Mexico, and more than 50
percent in the Middle East and North Africa. In Brazil, visa
issuances have nearly tripled to more than half a million
annually.
In this brief statement, I will highlight some of the ways
the Department of State and the Bureau of Consular Affairs are
meeting this challenge through increased staffing, peak season
temporary help, management and procedural innovation, and
improved technology.
My written testimony provides more detail on our efforts to
keep pace with travel demands, especially in these fast-growing
economies.
Since 2007, we have created 114 new consular officer
positions and moved another 74 existing positions from lower to
higher priority posts, concentrated in the countries with the
greatest needs. Twenty-four new slots went to posts in Brazil,
and another 24 went to China, and 14 new positions went to
India, including to staff our new consulate in Hyderabad,
India.
This fiscal year, at no cost to the American taxpayer, we
will continue to add consular officers and support staff to our
posts facing the greatest demand.
To cope with seasonal and short-term spikes in demand in
Brazil and China, the Bureau of Consular Affairs also makes
extensive use of temporary duty assignments.
We are also exploring possible alternative staffing models,
which would be funded by visa fees, including limited, non-
career appointments for consular adjudication staff, targeting
qualified people who already have foreign language proficiency.
Meeting higher visa demand also means boosting many
critical services that support our processing functions, such
as administrative and clerical personnel, guards, and security,
information management, communications, facilities and
infrastructure.
Assistant Secretary Jacobs is leading the preparation of
twenty-year plans for China, India, and Brazil to ensure that
we have the resources to meet both near and long-term demand
for visas in these fast-growing economies.
Wherever possible we have sought to maximize resources we
have on hand. Consul managers are exploring new ways to manage
their work flow. World-wide new technology, a global
contracting support system, and online application forms are
helping to boost efficiency.
All of our overseas posts have business facilitation
programs or other procedures to expedite visa appointments for
business travelers with legitimate needs for earlier
appointment dates. In addition, we give priority scheduling
appointments for student visa applicants, so they can get to
the United States in time to start the semester.
We continue to work with our interagency partners to
streamline security-related clearances processes, understanding
that new processes can never compromise the level of scrutiny
demanded in today's world.
We consider each of these strategies to address higher visa
demand. I can assure you that foremost in our minds is the need
to maintain vigilance against travelers who want to do us harm.
None of the provisions I'm sharing with you diminishes in
any way, the security screening that is an essential part of
the visa process.
Around 90 percent of our posts currently have wait times of
less than 20 days; 74 percent have wait times of less than 7
days.
While much of our consular operation is primarily funded on
the basis of fee for services, budget cuts could reduce the
administrative platform overseas that supports visa operation
limiting the options available to us in the future.
Nonetheless, the Bureau of Consular Affairs will continue
its commitment to meet the needs of international travel and
trade to the fullest extent possible. This is important not
only to our Nation's economy, but maintains America's
reputation for openness, fostering exchange, and seeking mutual
understanding.
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member, and members of
the Subcommittee for this opportunity to testify. I would be
pleased to take any questions you have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Donahue follows:]
Prepared Statement of David T. Donahue, Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for Visa Services, U.S. Department of State
Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and distinguished
members of the Subcommittee, it is a distinct honor to share with you
today the accomplishments of my colleagues in the Bureau of Consular
Affairs in our efforts to facilitate the legitimate travel of millions
of visitors, businesspeople, students, and others to the United States.
The good news is that international arrivals to the United States
continue to climb. In 2010, 60 million international visitors entered
the United States, a 17 percent increase from 2006. The Department of
Commerce predicts that by 2015, international arrivals will reach
nearly 83 million.
We know that international tourists, business visitors, and
students boost our economy, but these visitors also leave here with a
better understanding of American culture and values. According to the
Department of Commerce, last year international visitors contributed
$134 billion to the U.S. economy supporting more than a million jobs.
More international travel means more spending on airlines, tours,
hotels, services, and export purchases, all of which means more
American jobs.
For the Bureau of Consular Affairs, our challenge has been to meet
the increasing worldwide visa demand from these potential visitors
without compromising the security of our nation's borders. We are
meeting that challenge, even as we continue to deal with new and
growing demand for international travel.
After September 11, overseas travel to the United States dropped by
40 percent. Some travelers deferred trips voluntarily, while others
experienced increases in visa processing time as we implemented new
security requirements in 2002 and 2003. Since 2003, however,
nonimmigrant travel to the United States has grown steadily, with
demand for visas rising in virtually all of our 222 visa-issuing posts
worldwide. After a slight drop in visa issuances during Fiscal Year
2009--mainly because of global economic conditions and the addition of
nine new countries to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)--in Fiscal Year
2010 we saw a 7.6 percent increase in demand, to more than 8.2 million
visa applications. Of those, we issued 6.4 million visas.
Through the first 5 months of Fiscal Year 2011, worldwide visa
issuances are 13.4 percent higher compared with the same period last
year.
Approximately half of the total overseas visitors to the United
States enter through the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which allows
nationals of certain designated countries to enter the United States
for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. The
VWP, administered by the Department of Homeland Security in
consultation with the Department of State, added nine new countries in
the last 2 years bringing the current number to 36 participating
countries.
The greatest growth in travel comes from the world's fastest
emerging economies, where we have seen demand for U.S. visas increase
at a dramatic pace. Since 2005, visa issuances in China have doubled.
During the same period visa issuances have climbed by 51 percent in
India, 52 percent in Russia, and 24 percent in Mexico. Since 2005,
visas issuances in the Middle East and North Africa have risen more
than 50 percent.
In Brazil, where we maintain four visa-issuing posts--Sao Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, and Recife--an economic boom has created a
more prosperous middle class. In 5 years, we have seen nonimmigrant
visa issuances nearly triple to more than half a million annually. At
the same time, Brazilian refusal rates for visitor visas have dropped
from 20 percent to less than 5 percent.
Department of State Responses to Burgeoning Demand
This growth in visa demand represents a major and ongoing challenge
for the Department of State and the Bureau of Consular Affairs. We have
responded with increased resources, peak season temporary staffing,
management and procedural innovation, and improved technology. We still
face resource gaps in some of the fastest-growing economies. We
continue to focus our efforts on assisting our posts in those
countries.
Since 2007, we have created 114 new consular officer positions and
moved another 74 existing positions from lower to higher priority
posts. We have concentrated most of our new resources in the countries
with the greatest need. Twenty-four new slots went to posts in Brazil
and another 24 went to China. Seventeen were added to Mexico. Another
14 new positions went to India. In October 2008, we opened a new
consulate in Hyderabad, India, where a twelve-officer consular section
facilitates U.S.-India trade relationships in this hub of high-
technology business.
This fiscal year, at no cost to the American taxpayer, we will
continue to add consular officers to our posts facing the greatest
demand. Of the 20 new consular officer positions created in Fiscal Year
2011--funded through the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fees paid by visa
applicants--the majority are being deployed to China and Brazil. To
cope with seasonal, short-term spikes in demand in Brazil and China,
the Bureau of Consular Affairs also makes extensive use of temporary
duty assignments.
As demand continues to rise, normal intake of Foreign Service
Officers is expected to decline. For this reason, we are exploring
possible alternative staffing models, which would also be funded by MRV
fees. These new models include limited non-career appointments for
consular adjudication staff, targeted to qualified people who already
have foreign language proficiency.
The addition of nine new countries to the VWP allowed us to shift
resources to other posts. While this was a welcome development, it is
not a solution that can be widely applied. Adding countries to the VWP
is governed by law. The countries where we have the largest resource
needs presently do not meet the legal requirements to be considered for
the program.
We remain aware that meeting higher visa demand is not just a
matter of adding more consular officers. It also means boosting the
many critical services that support our processing functions, such as
administrative and clerical personnel, guards and security, information
management, and communications. It means larger and better facilities
and infrastructure. A greater number of visa line officers also creates
the need for more supervisors, experienced consular officers who
provide policy and management guidance and ensure the quality and
accountability of our work. We cannot ignore the levels of adequate
support and supervision that are essential to the success of any visa
operation.
Wherever possible, another important goal is to maximize the
resources we have on hand and consular managers are exploring new ways
to manage their workflow. For example, posts in Brazil, India, and
China have increased hours of operation to better utilize their
overwhelmed facilities. Mexico expanded their facilities and developed
more efficient procedures to handle case intake and applicant
biometrics.
We have implemented policy changes making it easier in Brazil,
China, India, and Mexico for applicants to apply at any of our posts in
their countries, not just the one covering the ``consular district''
where they live. This permits more efficient use of country-wide
processing capacity.
In addition, we have sent additional TDY officers to supplement
posts with critical needs, including 2,128 hours of TDY time in China
and 5,344 hours in Brazil over the last 18 months. We also instructed
all overseas posts to establish procedures to expedite visa processing
for business persons and students with time-sensitive travel.
We have consolidated and improved outsourced services for managing
visa appointments at overseas posts; finding efficiencies of scale
through global contracts. This new system, called the Global Support
Strategy (GSS) is already in place in a number of countries, including
Canada and Mexico, and other countries will transition to the new
service over the coming months.
Increasing the validity length on visas is another strategy for
reducing the need to re-apply for a U.S. visa. Brazilians, Indians, and
Mexicans receive ten-year visas. Unfortunately, Chinese tourist and
business travelers and students currently only receive 1 year visas.
Section 221(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires us to
set visa validities ``insofar as practicable'' to accord foreign
nationals the same treatment upon a reciprocal basis that their country
accords to U.S. citizens. This is not just law, but in my opinion, it
is good policy. It is not in our interest, for example, to give a
Chinese business traveler an advantage not available to American
business travelers. Our goal is, wherever possible, to negotiate longer
periods of visa validity with foreign governments, but our bottom line
is equal treatment for our own citizens. We have been working with our
Chinese counterparts to encourage them to cooperate on expanding
reciprocity for citizens of both our countries. We also take every
opportunity to encourage U.S. and Chinese business leaders to make this
point with Chinese officials.
Meeting the demand for visa interviews is only part of our resource
challenge. We are likewise improving our issuance process, the time it
takes to get approved visas into travelers' hands. All nonimmigrant
visa applicants worldwide now apply using our online form. Having
application data in electronic format from the start allows us to
instantly move that data throughout the process. We are developing a
new generation of visa processing software that will automate
additional procedures and help us further reduce our past reliance on
paper.
We continue to work with our interagency partners to streamline
security-related clearance processes, understanding that new processes
can never compromise the level of scrutiny today's world demands. In
part, more efficient screening will help to minimize delays some
legitimate travelers face because of false hits, caused by the
unavoidable fact that the world is full of very common names. As we
improve algorithms and increase the number of data elements used in
name-based screening, we will continue to reduce the number of cases
delayed by these false name matches.
Eliminating some categories of applicants from the personal
interview requirement would help cut wait times and staffing costs.
Under INA sec. 222(h), the Secretary of State has the authority,
subject to certain limitations, to waive the personal interview
requirement on the basis of a U.S. national interest or if necessary
because of unusual or emergent circumstances. We are considering
whether there are limited categories of low-risk applicants from low-
risk countries for which the Secretary might exercise her interview
waiver authority without compromising the security or integrity of the
visa process. This is a step forward we will take only with concurrence
from our law enforcement partners and with your support.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs has studied the idea of conducting
visa interviews by video link. While technologically possible, we
concluded that a combination of security and productivity concerns make
video interviews impractical in the field. The bottom line is that they
cut rather than improve consular officer efficiency. In addition, a
two-dimensional video does not provide the full sensory information
gained from an in-person interview. Given the demands of our high-
volume processing environment, security and budget constraints, other
processing and automation initiatives represent better and more
efficient uses of our resources.
As we consider each of these strategies to address higher visa
demand, I can assure you that foremost in our minds is the need to
maintain vigilance against travelers who want to do us harm. We have
seen time and again that extremists will exploit any vulnerability.
None of the provisions I am sharing with you have diminished in any way
the security screening that is an essential part of the visa process.
Some actually improve the efficiency of our security procedures. We
believe that security and travel facilitation are not mutually
exclusive. Along with our interagency partners, we continue to seek
solutions that maintain an appropriate level of caution while
minimizing disruption and inconvenience for legitimate travelers.
Appointment Wait Times
The steady increase in visa demand worldwide has resulted in longer
wait times to obtain visa interviews at some of our posts. The Bureau
of Consular Affairs has set a goal that wait times for an appointment
should not exceed 30 days. In fact, around 90 percent of our posts
currently have wait times of less than 20 days and 74 percent have wait
times of less than 7 days.
Unfortunately, in about 10 percent of our posts, wait times still
exceed 20 days and sometimes stretch longer than our 30-day target.
This includes Brazil and some posts in China. We will continue to focus
resources on these posts, but cannot immediately assign enough
qualified adjudicating officers to bring down these wait times in the
next few months.
Despite wait times, we have seen trade with and tourism from these
countries surge ahead unchecked. In fact, the number of U.S. arrivals
from countries with higher visa appointment wait times--Brazil, China,
and India--boomed last year, and even grew at a rate faster than
arrivals coming from most VWP countries. Moreover, U.S. exports to
Brazil, China, and India also continue to climb. Assistant Secretary
Jacobs has mandated that we develop a twenty-year plan to meet visa
demand in China, Brazil and India. We are just completing our plan for
China with ambitious goals in staffing, facilities and other resources.
We expect that, by continuing to streamline our visa processing
systems, and by carefully allocating our resources, we will cut back on
the wait times and continue to facilitate travel and trade in these
countries.
All of our overseas posts have business facilitation programs or
other procedures to expedite visa appointments for business travelers
with legitimate needs for earlier dates. In addition, we give priority
in scheduling appointments for student visa applicants, so they can get
to the United States in time for the start of the semester.
As we work to transform our visa operations to meet an ever-growing
demand for travel, the Bureau of Consular Affairs will continue to
consult with the trade and business communities and the travel
industry. We understand that foreign tourism and business are important
economic engines. We recognize the value American business places on
emerging markets such as in China and India. While in China last March,
I met with American business leaders in Beijing and American Chamber of
Commerce members in Guangzhou. Assistant Secretary Janice Jacobs has
also recently visited our posts in Brazil, India, and China.
While much of our consular operation is primarily funded on the
basis of fee-for-services, deep budget cuts could reduce the
administrative platform overseas that supports visa operations and
limit the options available to us in the future.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs will continue its commitment to meet
the needs of international travel and trade to the extent possible.
This is important not only to our Nation's economy, but maintains
America's reputation for openness, fostering exchange, and seeking
mutual understanding.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you, very much, Mr. Donahue.
Mr. Wagner.
STATEMENT OF JOHN WAGNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
ADMISSIBILITY AND PASSENGER PROGRAMS, OFFICE OF
FIELD OPERATIONS, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER
PROTECTION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Mr. Wagner. Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt and
distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to appear today to discuss the roles of U.S.
Customs and Border Protection in the implementation of the
Travel Promotion Act and CBP's efforts to facilitate legitimate
trade and travel while securing our nation's borders.
CBP is responsible for securing our nation's borders while
facilitating the movement of legitimate travel and trade vital
to our economy. CBP is the largest uniformed federal law
enforcement agency in the country, with about 20,000 CBP
officers stationed at air, land, and seaports nationwide. These
forces are supplemented with approximately 2,300 agriculture
specialists and other professionals.
On average, CBP processes approximately 352 million
travelers a year at ports of entry, and processes 25.8 million
in trade entities annually.
To counter the threat of terrorism and secure our borders,
CBP relies on a balanced mix of professional law enforcement
personnel, advanced technologies, and modernized facilities and
infrastructure both at and in between the ports of entry. Using
Advanced Passenger Information and our National Targeting
Centers, CBP Officers utilize advanced targeting, screening,
and inspection technologies to quickly identify persons or
cargo that warrant additional security, and address document
deficiencies without unduly impeding the traveling public or
commerce.
In January 2006, the Department of Homeland Security in
collaboration with the Department of State introduced a vision
to enhance border security while streamlining security
processes and facilitating legitimate travel.
As a result, the Model Ports Initiative was developed by
CBP in partnership with industry stakeholders to improve the
arrival experience for international travelers through
improvements to staffing, signage, brochures, instructional
videos, and technology. The initiative has been a great
success, and there are now 20 model airports in the continental
United States.
A key part of this has been the Passenger Service Managers.
Passenger Service Managers have been designated at each model
port to ensure that any customer concerns during the inspection
process are immediately addressed. Posters displaying the name
and contact information of the Port Director and the Passenger
Service Manager are displayed throughout the inspection
processing area.
Model ports have also established joint working groups with
airport authorities and carriers to improve wait times.
CBP is currently piloting two initiatives to more
efficiently process travelers and reduce wait times.
In May 2010, CBP designated primary inspection lanes for
international travelers arriving at Houston's Intercontinental
Airport without checked baggage. This pilot program called One
Stop allows approximately 800 passengers per day to bypass the
baggage carousels and exit the federal inspection service area
more quickly. Initial results suggest that users of One Stop
will save approximately 17 minutes per trip as a result of
participation in the program.
Further, passengers with luggage will also benefit from
shorter wait times due to the fewer number of passengers in the
main lanes.
Another program, called ``Express Connection'' designates
primary inspection lanes for travelers with closely scheduled
connecting flights. Airline personnel or the terminal operator
identify eligible travelers and direct them to designated
primary lines for CBP processing. Express Connection is
currently operational at five of CBP's model ports and we are
currently using the best practices learned at these locations
to develop a set of guidelines for implementation at other
ports around the U.S.
Initial results suggest that the Express Connection program
could save the air carriers $2.2 million to $3.5 million per
year by reducing the number of missed connections. This cost
savings are a result of avoided overnight stay, passenger
reimbursements, or rebooking costs.
In an effort to further improve model ports, CBP, in
coordination with the DHS private sector office, and travel
industry representatives have developed a customer service
survey that will be conducted this spring.
Currently we also use common cards that are available at
all ports of entry, and will be used in addition to the survey
to serve as a benchmark for passenger satisfaction, and CBP
professionalism at the 20 model ports.
We're continuing to enhance and expand our trusted traveler
programs so that we can better focus our attention on higher
risk, unknown travelers. Global entry is aimed at facilitating
lower risk travelers in the air environment. Global entry
members use automated kiosks at the 20 designated airports or
the model ports to complete their CBP declarations, allowing
travelers to bypass the regular passport control queues,
helping to reduce overall wait times for other travelers as
well.
Today global entry has 121,000 members, reduced the average
wait times for participants by more than 70 percent with 131
kiosks, used nearly 800,000 times, approximately 16,600 CBP
inspectional processing hours have been saved.
Similar to global entry, Nexus, a bilateral program with
the Canadian Border Services Agency, offers pre-approved low-
risk travelers' expedited travel between the U.S. and Canada,
through designated lanes and kiosks at the land borders and at
airports.
The Sentry Program offers the same benefits at the U.S.-
Mexico land border ports.
CBP is currently working to integrate these trusted
traveler programs into a single application process that will
allow members to choose benefits in the various travel
environments based on their particular needs.
Also helping to expedite land border travel, CBP has been
launching ready lanes. A Ready Lane is a vehicle primary lane
that accepts only RFID-enabled travel documents.
In June 2010, CBP launched a Ready Lane pilot at the
Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. On the southern border the first
lane opened in October 2010, in Del Rio, Texas. In December
2010, we opened a lane in El Paso.
Just last week we opened lanes in Donna-Rio Bravo in
Progresso, Texas as well, and we're opening lanes in Arizona
this week.
The results to date suggest that this program successfully
expedites the flow of legitimate travel. Vehicle through put
has increased by as much as 25 percent in these lanes and wait
times for travelers with RFID-enabled documents to have been
reduced by an average of 12 seconds per vehicle. CBP plans to
deploy ready lanes in additional high-volume lane-crossings in
the near future.
The successful implementation of ESTA has also helped us to
facilitate the flow of legitimate travel. ESTA is used to
determine the eligibility of visitors to travel to the U.S.
under the Visa Waiver Program.
It provides DHS with the ability to conduct advance
screening of VWP travelers, enabling DHS to preclude some
travelers who are ineligible for the VWP from initiating travel
to the United States.
We've even used the electronic information gathered through
ESTA to eliminate the Form I-94W, which is a paper form that
provides a record of VWP arrivals and departures for foreign
visitors.
Automation of the I-94W was completed in the summer of 2010
and resulted in up to a 58 percent reduction in inspection
processing time for VWP applicants.
Senator Klobuchar. Mr. Wagner, you've gone over your time.
Mr. Wagner. OK.
Senator Klobuchar. If you just sum it up here?
Mr. Wagner. Yes. With that I thank you for the opportunity
to testify on behalf of CBP.
[The prepared statement Mr. Wagner follows:]
Prepared Statement of John Wagner, Executive Director, Admissibility
and Passenger Programs, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Introduction
Chairman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and distinguished members
of the Subcommittee: thank you for the opportunity to appear today to
discuss the role of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the
implementation of the Travel Promotion Act and CBP's efforts to
facilitate legitimate trade and travel while securing our Nation's
borders.
CBP is responsible for securing our Nation's borders while
facilitating the movement of legitimate travel and trade vital to our
economy. Our purview spans more than 3,900 miles of border with Canada,
1,900 miles of border with Mexico, and 2,600 miles of shoreline. CBP is
the largest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the country,
with over 20,700 Border Patrol Agents operating between the ports of
entry and more than 20,600 CBP officers stationed at air, land, and sea
ports nationwide. These forces are supplemented with approximately
1,200 Air and Marine agents and 2,300 agricultural specialists and
other professionals. On average, CBP processes approximately 352
million travelers a year at ports of entry and processes 25.8 million
in trade entities annually.
To counter the threat of terrorism and secure our borders, CBP
relies on a balanced mix of professional law enforcement personnel,
advanced technologies and modernized facilities and infrastructure both
at and between the ports of entry. Using Advanced Passenger Information
and our National Targeting Centers, CBP Officers utilize advanced
targeting, screening and inspection technologies to quickly identify
persons or cargo that warrant additional scrutiny and address document
deficiencies without unduly impeding the traveling public or commerce.
Model Ports Initiative
In January 2006, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the
Department of State (DOS) introduced a joint vision to enhance border
security while streamlining security processes and facilitating
legitimate travel. As a result, the Model Ports Initiative was
developed by CBP in partnership with industry stakeholders to improve
the arrival experience for international travelers through improvements
to staffing, signage, brochures, instructional videos, and technology.
The initiative has been a great success and there are now 20 Model
Airports in the continental United States.
In addition, Passenger Service Managers (PSM) have been designated
at each Model Port to ensure that any customer concerns during the
inspection process are immediately addressed. Posters displaying the
name and contact information of the Port Director and PSM are displayed
throughout the inspection processing area, allowing travelers to
contact port management regarding their experience during the
inspection process. PSMs have been given training on de-escalating
stressful situations and are tasked with providing professionalism and
cultural sensitivity updates and training to CBP officers.
The Model Ports have established joint working groups with airport
authorities and carriers to improve wait times. New line posts and
other modifications have been made to improve queuing efficiency and
ultimately reduce overall processing time. CBP is currently piloting
two initiatives to more efficiently process travelers and reduce wait
times, including a pilot to provide designated processing areas for
passengers arriving with no checked baggage and a new process for
passengers arriving with tight connections to coordinate with air
carriers in order to decrease the number of missed connections from
international flights. I will discuss these pilots in more detail later
in my testimony.
CBP is constantly working to further improve the Model Ports. In
coordination with the DHS Private Sector Office and travel industry
representatives, we have developed a customer service survey to allow
us to evaluate and improve the Model Ports Initiative. The survey will
be conducted in the spring of 2011 and results should be available
within a few months. Customer feedback is also collected through the
Comment Card program. Comment Cards are available and distributed at
all ports of entry and results are distributed monthly to the ports of
entry so that managers can appropriately adjust procedures in order to
ensure efficient processing. The Comment Card program and the upcoming
survey will serve to benchmark passenger satisfaction and CBP
professionalism at the 20 Model Ports of Entry.
Global Entry
We are continuing to enhance and expand our trusted traveler
programs, which expedite the processing of known, low-risk travelers so
that we can better focus our attention on higher-risk, unknown
travelers. Global Entry, CBP's newest trusted traveler program, which
launched in 2008, is aimed at facilitating low-risk travelers in the
air environment. To use Global Entry, applicants must pass a thorough
security assessment to include biographic- and fingerprint-based
database checks and an interview with a CBP officer. Applications for
membership in the program can be submitted online using CBP's Global
Online Enrollment System. Using automated kiosks at the 20 designated
airports of the Model Ports Initiative, Global Entry Members may bypass
the regular passport control queues, and complete their CBP
declarations via touch screen.
To date, more than 121,000 travelers have enrolled in the Global
Entry program. Global Entry has reduced average wait times for Global
Entry users by more than 70 percent for the participants, with more
than 75 percent of travelers using Global Entry processed in less than
5 minutes. The 131 Global Entry kiosks have been used nearly 800,000
times, equal to approximately 16,600 CBP inspectional processing hours.
These hours are then expended on the normal passenger processing,
helping to reduce overall wait times.
Global Entry membership is currently limited to U.S. citizens, U.S.
lawful permanent residents (LPRs), Canadian citizens, and Mexican
citizens. Additionally, in a joint arrangement with the Netherlands,
CBP allows Dutch citizens to participate in Global Entry, and U.S.
citizens to participate in the Dutch trusted traveler program, FLUX.
CBP is also engaging in discussions with several other countries--
including the United Kingdom, Germany, Korea and Japan--for similar
arrangements to exchange trusted traveler membership benefits.
Global Entry provides similar benefits as the NEXUS and SENTRI
trusted traveler programs. NEXUS is a bilateral program with the
Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), which offers pre-approved, low-
risk travelers expedited travel between the U.S. and Canada through
designated lanes and kiosks at the land border and in airports. SENTRI
offers pre-approved, low-risk travelers expedited entry into the U.S.
through designated lanes at the U.S.-Mexico land border ports. Like
Global Entry, membership in these programs is valid for 5 years, and
the application process, membership requirements, and standard of
vetting are the same. Beginning in December 2010, all NEXUS members and
all U.S. citizens and LPRs in SENTRI were extended Global Entry
benefits at no additional fee. In addition, Global Entry eligibility
was extended to qualifying Mexican citizens. CBP is currently working
to integrate all of its trusted traveler programs into a single
application process that will allow members to choose benefits in the
various travel environments based on their particular needs.
Ready Lanes
A Ready Lane is a vehicle primary lane that only accepts travelers
using RFID-enabled travel documents. In June 2010, CBP launched a Ready
Lane pilot at the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. In October 2010, the
first Ready Lane along the southern border opened in Del Rio, Texas,
and in December 2010, a Ready Lane opened in El Paso, Texas. The
results to date suggest that this program successfully expedites the
flow of legitimate travel. Vehicle throughput has increased as much as
25 percent in these lanes and wait times for travelers with RFID-
enabled documents have been reduced by an average of 12 seconds per
vehicle. CBP plans to deploy Ready Lanes to additional high volume land
crossings in the near future.
Private Sector Partnerships and Innovations
As I mentioned earlier, CBP, in coordination with our private
sector partners, is currently piloting two initiatives to more
efficiently process travelers and reduce wait times. Starting in May
2010, CBP designated primary inspection lanes for international
travelers arriving at Houston's George Bush/Houston Intercontinental
Airport without checked baggage. Under this program--called
``OneStop''--approximately 800 passengers per day are allowed to bypass
the baggage carousel and exit the federal inspection service area more
quickly. Initial results suggest that users of OneStop will save
approximately 17 minutes per trip as a result of participation in the
program. Further, the initial results suggest that passengers with
luggage will also benefit from shorter wait times due to the fewer
number of passengers in the main lines.
Another program, called ``Express Connection,'' designates primary
inspection lanes for travelers with closely scheduled connecting
flights. Airline personnel or the terminal operator identify eligible
travelers and direct them to designated primary lanes for CBP
processing. ``Express Connection'' is currently operational at five of
CBP's Model Ports of Entry and we are currently using the best
practices learned at these locations to develop a set of guidelines for
implementation at other ports of entry around the U.S. Initial results
suggest that the ``Express Connection'' program could save air carriers
$2.2 million to $3.5 million per year by reducing the number of missed
connections. This cost savings manifest as avoided overnight stay
passenger reimbursements or rebooking costs.
ESTA
The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) was one of
the security enhancements mandated by the Implementing Recommendations
of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007. ESTA is an automated system used to
determine the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States
under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and whether such travel poses a law
enforcement or security risk. ESTA provides DHS with the ability to
conduct advance screening of VWP travelers, enabling DHS to preclude
some travelers who are ineligible for the VWP from initiating travel to
the United States. Prior to ESTA, VWP travelers did not undergo any
screening prior to their arrival in the United States--their
application for entry to the United States occurred upon arrival.
To facilitate the ESTA application process for VWP travelers, the
ESTA website is available in 21 languages in addition to English and
contains links or pop-up windows with additional information. The
implementation of ESTA has been very successful, with a compliance rate
of more than 99 percent and with more than 99 percent of applications
receiving an immediate decision.
The Travel Promotion Act of 2009 required that DHS establish a fee
for the use of ESTA, consisting of $10 per travel authorization to fund
travel promotion activities, plus an amount that will ensure recovery
of the costs of providing and administering ESTA. CBP conducted an ESTA
fee analysis and determined that a $4 fee is necessary to ensure
recovery of the full costs of providing and administering ESTA.
Therefore, effective September 8, 2010, CBP began collecting a $14 fee
for each ESTA application.
The successful implementation of ESTA has helped us to facilitate
the flow of legitimate travel. We now use the electronic information
gathered through ESTA to eliminate the Form I-94W--a paper form that
provides a record of VWP arrivals and departures--for foreign visitors
arriving by air and sea. Automation of the I-94W was completed in the
summer of 2010 and resulted in a 58 percent reduction in the inspection
time for VWP applicants for admission--streamlining passenger
processing and improving the overall traveler experience at our ports
of entry.
CBP is currently looking into the possibility of automating the
regular Form I-94--the paper record of arrivals and departures by non-
VWP travelers--by using data from the Advanced Passenger Information
System (APIS) program. APIS collects biographic information on a
person's travel document--enabling air carriers to submit pre-arrival
and departure manifest data on all passengers and crew members.
IAP
The Immigration Advisory Program (IAP) is part of CBP's layered
border strategy designed to prevent terrorists and other high-risk
travelers from boarding commercial aircraft bound for the United
States. IAP officers are posted in a number of foreign airports and use
the full array of CBP's pre-departure screening capabilities, as well
as skills in passenger analysis, interviewing, and document
examination, to identify high-risk passengers prior to departure.
IAP officers make a ``no board'' recommendation to carriers and
host governments regarding passengers bound for the U.S. IAP and ESTA
reduce the number of passengers who are declared inadmissible upon
arrival in the United States. In addition to the clear security benefit
of this advanced screening, these programs help air carriers avoid
penalties for transporting inadmissible passengers and having to
provide for the cost of transporting the passenger to their origin
point.
In addition to IAP, CBP Regional Carrier Liaison Groups (RCLG)
located in Honolulu, New York (JFK), and Miami are now involved in pre-
departure targeting for all high-risk travelers. RCLGs assist CBP in
denying boarding to mala fide passengers on all flights destined to the
United States from foreign locations that do not have an IAP presence.
This expands the Nation's zone of security beyond our physical borders
by preventing passengers who may be inadmissible, or who possess
fraudulent documents, from traveling to the United States. The RCLGs
also work with carriers to facilitate the boarding of U.S. citizens and
other bona fide travelers who may encounter issues with their travel
documents, and provide 24/7 assistance on other immigration related
issues.
Conclusion
Chairman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and distinguished members
of the Subcommittee, thank you again for this opportunity to testify on
behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. DHS is committed to
securing our Nation's borders while facilitating the movement of
legitimate travel and trade so vital to our economy. I would be pleased
to answer your questions.
Senator Klobuchar. That's a really nice summary.
[Laughter.]
Senator Klobuchar. All right. Well, I first wanted to thank
all of you. I mean, clearly, this has been on your mind. I know
that we've been working with you for years on this, and I want
to appreciate it.
I also am thinking of your boss, Secretary Locke, will be
on the front line, we hope in China, actually dealing with
this, so this is going to be good. He's going to be able to
like put his work into practice when he gets to China.
And, that, obviously Secretary Clinton and Secretary
Napolitano, both come from states where tourism is near and
dear to their hearts. So, I appreciate the work that's being
done.
I wanted to first get to Mr. Donahue about the visa wait
times; and I appreciated those numbers about how tourism has
been. We've seen the increases with the economy improving.
That's great. Probably some of your work has helped, but the
international market has improved; and I think you said 16
percent increase, something like that, Ms. Lamb-Hale, but the
issues is that our share is still not where it was back in,
say, 2000.
I think the number we had was that if we could get back to
our market share now with the improved numbers that we could
get an additional 19 million visitors by 2015.
So, I'm glad we're doing a little better, but we have to do
much better.
So one area of concern is the recent spike in visa
processing times in certain countries. We have a chart here, I
think, that we were going to show. Wait times last year in
China and Brazil exceeded the State Department guideline of 30
days.
As you can see, what happened--this snapshot of China and
Brazil, 48 days, 101 days, and you compare that to the U.K.,
and you can see why a visitor might choose to go to the U.K.,
instead of going to the United States.
I guess a few questions: Why does the State Department
decide on a 30-day guideline, and why does it compare so
unfavorably with processing times for other countries in their
China consulates?
And I know you're doing things to improve it, but that's my
question.
Mr. Donahue. Thank you very much for the question. First of
all, I'd like to say that the times do change during the year,
but those were certainly the--some of the worst times we saw in
China and Brazil, and that those are things that we try to
fight against.
The comparison with the U.K.'s is quite different because
of the different theory of visa adjudication. They do interview
by exception, which means that in most cases people do not come
in for an interview. We do, almost universal interview, and
that makes a big difference.
So, in the case of China, they have visa application
acceptance centers, but those applicants don't go to an embassy
or consulate in China to meet with a British officer, to have
their visa eligibility determined. So, that's probably the
biggest difference in the difference in wait times.
Senator Klobuchar. OK; and we know one of the ideas--I
tossed out some ideas here at the beginnings of how we can deal
with this, getting more consular officers--temporary consular
officers when you have, sort of hot spots like this, where we
want to meet the demand, and it can be paid for, I understand,
from the visa application fees.
Could you explain how that works, and would we need any
Congressional action to ensure that the additional temporary
consular officers will be self-funded through the increased
fees that they would generate, so we're not taking it off the
backs of taxpayers?
Mr. Donahue. We are looking at every option for sending
more officers overseas, having more visa-adjudicating officers.
We start with our officers we have. As I said, we
repositioned a number of officers. For example, when Korea went
to visa waiver, we moved a number of those officers into other
posts that had a greater demand.
We're looking at all of our posts to make sure that the
officers there need to be there; whether we can do with one
officer rather than two in some of our--our smaller posts, so
that we have those officers. In addition to that----
Senator Klobuchar. I'm just trying to think outside----
Mr. Donahue. Yes. No----
Senator Klobuchar.--the box before we have that so that----
Mr. Donahue. Right.
Senator Klobuchar.--we meet this demand and get these
people to come to our country instead of Great Britain.
Mr. Donahue. Right. In addition to that, we are--we are
looking at the idea--well, not looking at the idea--we're
moving forward with a plan to hire limited non-career
appointments. These will be language scholars. We would
envision people who already have Portuguese or Chinese, who
would be hired for a limited maximum of 5 year-appointments.
They would go through the same training, and they would have
most of the same requirements to enter into the program as a
foreign service officer would be, but they would not be life-
long career people expected to have a life-long career in the
Foreign Service.
Senator Klobuchar. So, would you need Congressional
authorization to get more of those or----
Mr. Donahue. No, we would not.
Senator Klobuchar.--to do that.
And they could just pay for themselves with these visa
applications?
Mr. Donahue. They will be able to pay for themselves, their
salaries, their individual costs through visa operations. There
are--as I mentioned earlier, there are a number of systemic
issues at the platform.
All the things that go with having a physical place to be,
those generally are not paid for out of visa fees, and they
would come out of the State Department budget if we had to have
more windows, if we build more buildings. And we're looking at
that.
Senator Klobuchar. OK. Because we know we get a lot of
money out of this when they come to our country, so I'm just
trying to figure out one other issue. How about extending the
certain low-risk visas' length? For example, why should a high-
level Chinese business executive, making repeated trips to the
U.S., need to re-apply for a visa every single year? What do
you think about the idea of allowing consular officials the
flexibility to grant longer visa validating periods?
Mr. Donahue. Well, we fully support the idea of having
maximum validities with our partner countries, and, of course,
we have 10-year visas in both Brazil and India, and many, many
other countries.
China has been a difficult situation, because by law we're
required to have visas issued in the validity that matches that
of the country that--of how that country treats Americans going
to that country. And we have been in negotiations with the
Chinese.
And I welcome anything that you can do, that the members
here can do, that our business colleagues can do to encourage
China to open up, allow Americans to have long-term visas, to
travel to China; and we look forward to extending the visa
validity because we're----
Senator Klobuchar. OK, very good. I'm going to turn it over
to my colleagues here, but just two things we suggested: One
would be an agreement with China, but the first, a temporary--
temporary consular officials, you could just do that on your
own, if you wanted. And it's just you have some issues with
space and management; but I just wanted to make that clear.
Mr. Donahue. Yes.
Senator Klobuchar. All right, thank you very much.
Senator Blunt.
Senator Blunt. What is the China time-frame for Americans
visiting China?
Mr. Donahue. Americans visiting China, I think they can get
up to 1 year--a business person can, but it is very rare. We
don't see that very often. Quite often we see a single entry, 3
months; and we are pushing very hard that they need to extend
their visa.
Senator Blunt. And we give a visa for how long?
Mr. Donahue. We usually give 1 year.
Senator Blunt. One year----
Mr. Donahue. Multiple entries.
Senator Blunt.--their maximum time.
Mr. Donahue. Yes, correct.
Senator Blunt. Mr. Wagner, on the model ports, are we
moving toward more model ports of entry? How many other ports
are there, and what--are we moving toward having all our ports
be model ports of entry?
Mr. Wagner. Yes, some of the things we've implemented under
the Model Ports Initiative we are looking at broader
application.
The 20 model ports covers the great majority of the air
traffic to the United States. So, it's some of the less-busy
airports that would not be considered in that topic.
Senator Blunt. Have they all met the model port standards;
and what have you learned from the 20 different applications of
model ports?
Mr. Wagner. We've learned a lot of things. We've changed
the way we queue people up and line them; we've taken a lot of
lessons from the private industry, just on how we queue people
through. We have a lot of work to do, still on some of the
conditions of the facilities.
We're working closely with the airport authorities to make
the physical environment more welcoming and more open and--and
really just a nicer environment to arrive in, when they come
into the United States, that's the first thing you see on
arrival.
We've made great progress in some of the airports with
that. They've been very well worked with us with clearer
signage, bright, open, friendly, welcoming physical
environments as well.
We've redesigned our entire basic inspection academy for
new officers with a renewed focus on professionalism, just in
how they carry their day-to-day activities, how they answer
people. We've given the officers in the front lines specific
scripts, like to say, welcome home, or welcome to the United
States; and we're finding just those little key things that,
you know, we thought we were doing a much better job than we
were. We just need to remind the officers to continue to focus
on that, because they have a very, very difficult job to do;
and when those tired and irritated travelers arrive at those
ports, it's a very fine line of what we have to do not to set
them off further, right, at irritableness, and you know, just
like little things, like welcome home or welcome to the United
States, goes a long way to----
Senator Blunt. Ms. Lamb-Hale, under the Travel Promotion
Act, is there any of that funding be available for physical
improvements in some of these facilities?
I think your mike is not on.
Ms. Lamb-Hale. Thank you so much for the question. Under
the Travel Promotion Act, the ESTA fees that we mentioned are
available to fund the activities of the Corporation for Travel
Promotion to promote the United States. We really need to work
together with industry to improve the facilities that folks who
visit our ports of entry see and to help with that, making that
experience better.
Senator Blunt. I think that we'll talk if we have the
people who are on the Board up later, but I think maybe some of
that could be used to even encourage some kind of matching
program at some of these facilities, because I think what Mr.
Wagner mentioned is really a key to the first place you see in
the United States is often not what you'd hoped to see at the
place you've invested your time and money to come and visit.
Mr. Donahue, how many countries are on the Visa Waiver
Program?
Mr. Donahue. Thirty-six.
Senator Blunt. And, what was the last country that we
added?
Mr. Donahue. The last country was----
Senator Blunt. Was it Malta? Have we added anything since
Malta?
Mr. Donahue.--I'm thinking Greece was the very last one.
Senator Blunt. And that was what, then?
Mr. Donahue. That was 2010.
Senator Blunt. 2010 we did add Greece in 2010? And whose--
is there a list, now, of countries that are trying to get
there?
Mr. Donahue. I can defer to my colleague from CBP, but we
are talking to a number of countries who are interested. There
are a number of steps. But we are not in--right now we are
looking at the countries who came on. We brought in nine new
countries in 2009-2010, and we are getting them up to speed--
are getting the old countries, the countries that have been in
for a long time, to meet the same standards as the new
countries we brought on.
Senator Blunt. And, is that done by Mr. Wagner's
organization, as opposed to yours?
Mr. Donahue. It's--it's an interagency. But we work closely
with our colleagues in CBP and other agencies--with the
interagency.
Senator Blunt. That's what I thought, and I was a little
confused when you'd defer on that----
Mr. Donahue. Yes.
Senator Blunt.--to them.
So, what's the list look like, now, of countries that are
in the process? Does anybody have that?
Mr. Wagner. I don't have it offhand.
Senator Blunt. If you don't, would you get it?
Mr. Wagner. Yes, we can get it.
Senator Blunt. I'd like to know which countries you're
working with, and some sense of where they are in the process
of accommodating the way they have to change their procedure
for us to be comfortable with that procedure; and in the
countries that we have added to the visa waiver list in the
last 4 or 5 years, I'd also be interested in any increase in
travel from those countries; do either of you have that?
Mr. Wagner. I don't have that today. I know that, in
particularly in Korea, the last year has seen a huge increase
in travel to the United States.
Senator Blunt. Yes. Give me those numbers of the people
we've added since 2005--the countries we've added, rather; and
what's happened with the travel from those countries as they
have been able to benefit from visa waiver.
And, then Ms. Lamb-Hale, as I recall the Travel Promotion
Act, the fee that's used for that Act is a fee on individuals
from visa waiver countries, right? Is that right?
Ms. Lamb-Hale. It's correct. It's part of the travel
authorization system, and that fee does not come from taxpayer
dollars.
Senator Blunt. Right.
Ms. Lamb-Hale. It comes from the travelers.
Senator Blunt. It comes from the travelers----
Ms. Lamb-Hale. Yes.
Senator Blunt.--and we anticipate will amount to how much
annually?
Ms. Lamb-Hale. You know, I can certainly get that number to
you. I know that those numbers are pretty impressive, though,
Senator.
So, I think that we'll have a great opportunity to use
those funds to really improve the experience of folks who are
traveling to the United States.
Senator Blunt. Have you----
Ms. Lamb-Hale. But I can certainly provide that.
Senator Blunt.--have you given the new Board a number to
work with this first year, of money they should anticipate
coming in?
Ms. Lamb-Hale. I can get that to you, Senator.
Senator Blunt. All right.
Ms. Lamb-Hale. I don't have the exact figure.
Senator Blunt. Maybe if you don't have it, they will. I
think they'll be up next, but if not, I'd like to see that.
Ms. Lamb-Hale. Yes, we can get that to you.
Senator Blunt. Thank you, Chairman.
Senator Klobuchar. Very good. Thank you.
Senator Ensign.
Senator Ensign. Thank you, Mr. Donahue. Do we have any
statistics on, like for everyone you add, how many more
tourists we could bring to the United States each year?
Mr. Donahue. We don't have a figure for that, and a visa
officer can do somewhere between 8 and 12, depending on--
thousand visas a year, depending on the country where they're
serving. So, it varies quite a bit. And, I think it's important
to know that if you issue a visa in most countries, maybe you
only see that person once in their whole life because we can,
again, renew the visa even after those 10 years, without them
coming in.
So, there's a multiplier effect on those who have--once
they have their visa.
Senator Ensign. The reason I bring that up is it seems like
a pretty easy numbers game to justify, you know, hiring the
extra staff to do, basically, whatever it takes, especially in
these kind of economic times. I mean, my state's not the only
one that's very tourism-dependent. The entire country benefits
greatly from these overseas travelers, and even when they come
to visit one of our specific states, international travelers
usually travel to several places in the United States.
So, I think just from an encouragement standpoint, we can't
encourage you enough. I can't tell you, across my state, how
many people have told me that their customers wait, and wait,
and wait, to get to the United States.
You're seeing the huge explosion of gaming in Macau. A lot
of those people actually want to come to the United States. And
we talk about the balance of trade, you know, and those are
dollars that come to the United States instead of dollars that
obviously go to Macau; and those can create jobs here. And,
it's not just obviously gaming; it's all of the other, you
know, benefits; the people that come here to do that also go to
the Grand Canyon; they go to the Mall of America; they, you
know, people like to visit Alaska. All of those other places
that we have, the reason that we wanted the Travel Promotion
Act in the first place, because we know we have so much to sell
here in the United States.
So, you know, I want to add my voice to the Chairman here,
that it is critical that we start adding some of these people,
and do it as quickly as possible. And, you know, I've talked to
quite a few people who are now learning Mandarin just because
of the opportunities, not only in China, but some of them are
actually having trouble finding jobs; so you may want to
advertise this. If this is something that you all are going to
be hiring for, you may want to get the word out there, because
there are a lot of people who are looking for jobs, and this
may be a place where they could find some of those.
Some of the proposals being advocated by the private sector
include doubling the number of visas by some of these
countries--China, Brazil, and India--and allowing Brazil to
enter the Visa Waiver Program, taking greater advantages the
Chairman talked about, about video-conferencing.
Can you discuss some of those issues, what you all are
doing?
Mr. Donahue. Sure. As I mentioned earlier, the first thing
we're trying to do is make sure that we can get those people in
and get the interviews quickly. And, we share your concern for
doing that. We understand the importance to our economy, as
does Secretary Clinton.
The idea of video conferencing is one that we have tried.
It does not--there are two problems with it: we don't think it
will be more efficient; in other words, we will not interview
more people--won't bring more people in, and in fact, will have
just the opposite effect--impact. We believe that the process
of video interviewing will--an officer will be able to do less
interviews a day.
In addition, the purpose of the in-person interview is to
really assess the person who's standing in front of you, to
make a determination whether they're going to use the visa
properly. And, in a two-dimensional Skype-type situation, even
with the best technologies, we don't believe that we'll be able
to make those decisions, because it's a three-dimension live
presence that we feel is very important.
Senator Ensign. Why do they feel safer than we do? What was
the decisionmaking process there?
Mr. Donahue. Yes. This is a different theory, I think, when
you look at that. We made a decision, after 9/11 that we needed
to have that personal interview when we were going to issue a
visa to someone. We felt that that was very important to our
national security, and it was placed in the law following 9/11.
So, it's a different theory. I think there's another thing
about the vastness of our country and the openness of our
society, the fact that we don't have national identification
cards. We're a free and open society, so that once you've
arrived here, if your intention is to stay, it's pretty easy to
do so.
Senator Ensign. I see my time is up, Madam Chair. I
appreciate it.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. Senator Begich?
Senator Begich. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for holding
this meeting. To the new Ranking Member, thank you also for
your work on the House side in regards to the tourism industry.
Let me--several questions, but first, just let me say thank
you all very much for being here, and being part of helping
promote the country in getting more visitors here.
In Alaska, it's a $2 billion business for us; and someone--
in our family we're also in the tourism business a little bit,
so we know some degree of it. So, let me first--a couple
questions first to John, if I can--Mr. Wagner, if I could ask
you--and I'm going to give you a specific issue in Alaska, and
maybe you could follow up with this, and that is, we have a new
chartered airline from Europe, it goes from Zurich and
Whitehouse--or Whitehorse in Canada, but it has a stopover in
Anchorage.
But, in 2003 we got rid of a program called IT--ITI, which
allowed people to get off that plane in a secure area, not
getting, you know, out of the secure area, and then getting
back on the plane as they moved back over to their final
destination, whichever side it was going to.
Now, if they do that, everyone is required to have a visa.
When this program was suspended in 2003 there was discussion
that you revisited it, and to be very frank with you, now the
airline is considering not doing the stopover in Anchorage
because of that, honestly, burdensome--they're not leaving the
secure area, but everyone on the plane will be required to have
a visa in order for it to have that stopover and to disembark.
Are you--one, are you familiar with the ITI program, and
are their efforts to revisit this, I mean from our perspective,
obviously, that has a direct negative impact on our economy,
even though it's small, but their landing fees are built to
refuel there, and also if they stop off in those duty-free
shops there to shop and spending money in the economy?
Can you respond to that?
Mr. Wagner. Yes, thank you for the question. And, in 2003
in coordination with the Department of State, we did suspend
the international to international ITI and the transit without
visa programs based on some very specific credible intelligence
we had that said that people were going to try to exploit that
lack of a visa to try to get here and--and do us harm.
We have not yet re-implemented that program, either one of
the two. We recognize the--the interest in the carrier
industry, in the airport industry, to re-employ those kinds of
programs. I don't think we're comfortable yet with the types of
security arrangements that I think we would need to re-
implement that type of a program.
Senator Begich. Have you engaged with the carrier industry
at all?
Mr. Wagner. We've had a lot of discussions with them. I'm
actually headed to LAX later this week to talk with New Zealand
Air about what they're trying to do through a transit process
there.
I'd like to be able to find a way to do it, it's just that
intelligence is still credible today, and having people coming
here without the benefits of either a visa or going through the
ESTA Program for the visa waiver travelers, just doesn't give
us that visibility into who's here and who's coming, and who's
arriving, and what their intentions are. So, it's difficult.
Senator Begich. Are you--but you're not closed to
continuing trying to find an opportunity for these carriers who
want to have stopovers in the U.S.?
Mr. Wagner. Oh, absolutely discuss ideas and--and continue
to discuss it.
Senator Begich. Will you keep our office informed as to how
you progress on some of these discussions you're having?
Mr. Wagner. Yes, sir.
Senator Begich. Mr. Donahue, I want to first say, I'm not
sure I buy the VTC argument, but I'll leave that. I'll tell you
all the business we do in Alaska, a lot of it we have to do
through video teleconferencing, but I'll leave that for another
discussion.
My question is more of a broader--and that is--and you
answered a lot about in regards to the expanding the temporary
or limited time hires. What's the plan? In other words,
everyone has some concerns, so when are you going to bring
folks onboard, and what's the volume of people that you'll
bring onboard; when will they be trained; when will they start
doing this?
Mr. Donahue. Well, it's a constant process, and we brought,
as I mentioned, a number onboard every year. Ramping that up is
the next step, and so we're looking at--we have a plan that
shows, you know, as anyone would do, we look at where we think
the visas are going to go, and in consultation with our folks--
our friends in Commerce, and then we try to make sure that
we're going to be staffed up to meet that demand. And, it's,
you know--and we have quite a spreadsheet of how many more
we'll need at each of the posts we have in China and Brazil.
Senator Begich. Can I hold you there? Can you share that
with the Committee?
Mr. Donahue. I think we can, sure.
Senator Begich. OK, great. I'm almost out of time, but I
just have one quick question--or actually, a quick question and
then just a comment from folks.
First, Ms. Lamb-Hale, thank you very much for being here,
and I know, Helen, thank you for traveling to Alaska and going
on a whirlwind tour. We appreciate that.
When will you have the permanent position of Director for
the Office of Travel Promotion in place?
Ms. Lamb-Hale. Thank you for the question, Mr. Begich. We,
as I mentioned, do have an interim Director; our Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Services is currently the Director, and
we are working through the process, and we do believe, in a
very short period we will have a permanent Director.
Senator Begich. Short measure, weeks? Months?
Ms. Lamb-Hale. I would say in a very short period of time,
Mr. Begich. I don't want to commit to an exact frame,
timeframe, but I can tell you that we're very focused on ways
to maximize the work of the OTP and our existing office that
Helen Marano runs, of Office of Travel and Tourism industries,
just to make sure that what we do is efficient and maximizes
the use of taxpayers' dollars.
Senator Begich. I'm going to hold you to it to shorten it.
Ms. Lamb-Hale. OK.
Senator Begich. And, I'll leave it there, Madam Chair.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Senator Begich. The only question I had--but I know this
panel has to go--and that is, I would just want, maybe for the
record, very quickly, if there's a government shutdown, what
happens to the services you all offer, and how many visas will
not be processed?
You don't have to answer now, because I think we're out
of--I'm out of time. I think it's a great--it's an important
question because I think----
Senator Klobuchar. So, we'll have them answer that, what, a
week from now?
Senator Begich. Yes, because they won't have time, but I
would love--I mean, if time allows after the--I know Mr.--
Senator Boozman's here, and I don't want to allow him--invade
on his time, but I'd be very curious, because you're going to
have thousands of people who won't get visas, I'm guessing, but
maybe I'm wrong.
Mr. Donahue. It's a big problem because of, again, our
officers are paid from fees, but our platform is not--is paid
from appropriated funds.
Senator Klobuchar. OK, thank you very much.
We now move on to Senator Boozman from the state of
Arkansas, home of tourism spots like the Ozark Mountains and
Mammoth Hot Springs.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BOOZMAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS
Senator Boozman. Very good.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Senator Boozman. The Clinton Library and numerous other
hotspots.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Senator Boozman. But, I do appreciate you and Senator Blunt
having this hearing.
I think this is a great example, you know, have a lot of
stuff going on here, where there's some acrimony, but this is
an area that, in a very bipartisan way, we all agree, that
we've got to get this straight.
And, I think, we talk a lot about the economy and stuff and
the benefit there, but also there's tremendous benefit from
people from other countries coming here, experiencing America,
the image that--I think that's a very positive image.
So, I'd like to ask just a couple things: One of the things
that I'm always concerned about, are we working together, to
get these things done--Commerce Department--and hopefully, this
is the case--feels like we're going to have a significant
increase in travel to our country if we can get here.
Can you tell us a little bit about how you are working
together to anticipate and meet the growth that we're going to
have in the future?
Mr. Donahue. Thank you for the question, Senator. We work
very closely; in fact, I spend probably as much time with
Commerce as I do with any agency in the U.S. government. We
are--I'm on the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board as an ex-
officio member. I'll be going out to--I attend their
conferences, and we share information. I work with them on--the
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board on their advice to Secretary
Locke on what we need to do to improve the visa issuance
policy. So, I think it's a very close working relationship, and
we look for ideas with the industry; spend a lot of time with
the industry.
Mr. Lamb-Hale. If I could add to that, Senator. By the way,
I wanted to tell you that my family is from Arkansas, so I know
Arkansas very well.
Senator Boozman. Whereabouts?
Ms. Lamb-Hale. Camden, actually.
Senator Boozman. Oh, very good.
Ms. Lamb-Hale. But, what I did want to say is, to echo what
Mr. Donahue said, we work very closely. We have the Travel
Policy Committee Council that is an interagency group. Through
the National Security Council we work very closely in an
interagency policy committee to discuss ways to make the travel
experience to the United States much better.
The Travel and Tourism Advisory Board was also mentioned.
That really provides policy advice to the Secretary of Commerce
that can then be used by the Corporation as it begins to--its
work on promoting the United States.
So, I think that we've really done quite a good job of
collaborating. The White House has been involved. There's a big
recognition that this industry is important and it drives job
growth.
Senator Boozman. Mr. Donahue, I was a member of the NATO
Parliament, and so I traveled extensively in that in the House,
and have been to a number of different entities overseas and
I'm always amazed. I understand very much how hard those--our
Ambassadors and their staffs work to represent us and do all
these things.
I guess what I would like to know is that--that consular
officers, that are taking care of these, they do have a lot of
different responsibilities. In a 40-hour work period, how much
time is there--are they devoted, as far as taking care of visas
and things like that?
Mr. Donahue. The consular officers, depending on the post
and--and the demand for visa services, may spend the entire--
their entire workweek doing nothing but visas. In other posts
where the demand is less, they may do American citizen
services; they may provide--do fraud work; they may do
emergency services, passports. So, it just depends.
But, in large posts, the posts we're talking about today,
most of the officers who are visa officers spend their entire
workweek doing visas.
Senator Boozman. And, that's allocated--the time that they
spend, is that allocated at that facility, or does it come out
of Washington, or----
Mr. Donahue. No, they're--they're--they're assigned to the
consulate abroad.
Senator Boozman. No, I understand that, but once they're
there, does the--does the entity there decide how much time is
going to be spent on visas, or does that come out of Washington
as to how much time?
In other words, who decides how much time the consular
official is going to spend working on visas?
Mr. Donahue. Well, the embassy is--is--you know, works in a
collegial manner with the Department as far as deciding where
the work goes, but consular officers are there to do consular
work and spend most of their time doing consular work. A
political officer would be doing political work.
So, when we assign someone, and we're paying for it from
MRV fees, we expect to be spending the vast majority of their
time doing visas, doing consular work.
Senator Boozman. And, for the most part, we've got enough
people to get that done?
Mr. Donahue. Well, we--in most posts--in 90 percent of the
posts we have wait times under 20 days, and in 74 percent I
think they're under 7 days. So, in most places I think we're
OK. It's just this huge ramp up of demand in these two
countries that have been a challenge to us.
Senator Boozman. Can you send us a list besides the two
countries where we're struggling?
Mr. Donahue. Sure. I can send you the list.
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Klobuchar. We're going to move onto our next panel
now, but I wanted to just remind you all of what we're talking
about here, when--even though we have seen increases in the
last few years, we want to see even better increases because of
all the jobs, and just this--I thought this chart, while it
looks complicated, it's interesting.
So, our current market share right now of the international
travel industry is 28.5 percent; and if we had saved our 2000
market share, right, it was 42.8. Now, we know we're going to
see some decreases, but we shouldn't have seen that big of a
decrease.
And, that's what we're trying to change, and if we could
just get up to that market share, or anywhere close to it, we
could get an additional $60 billion in spending in the United
States of America.
So, as we look at how to expand this economy, I believe
it's private sector jobs. I believe a lot of it has to do with
exports; and tourism is one of our export treasures. So, that's
what we have to think about as we move forward, is how we are
going to get that market share back. And, so, that's what I
want to leave you with as you all go back to your jobs.
Mr. Wagner, I just wanted to mention, I'm a big fan of your
TSA people. I know they've got a lot of grief, so I always like
to say that any moment, that they've got tough jobs, which they
remind me of every time I go through the airport.
OK, thank you, the three of you. We will have our next
panel up. Thank you.
OK, we're going to get started here, and I will give all
the introductions for our second panel, and they're going to
talk about what they're seeing out there in the field as we
look at ways to recapture our country's share of the global
tourism market.
First of all, we have Mr. Stephen Cloobeck, who is the
Chairman and CEO of the Diamond Resorts Corporation, which
includes Diamond Resorts International, a hospitality brand
with over 190 branded and affiliated resorts in 28 countries
around the world.
Mr. Cloobeck has over 25 years of experience in the tourism
area. He has also recently been elected as the Chairman of the
Corporation for Travel Promotion that we've been discussing
today.
Second, Ms. Nancy Johnson is the Executive Vice President
for Development at Carlson Hotels, headquartered in my home
state of Minnesota. She has worked in various roles at Carlson
since 1989, including as Executive Vice President for Carlson
Select Service Hotels and several management roles with Carlson
Country Inn Suites Hotel chain.
Third, Mr. John Sprouls is the CEO of Universal Orlando
Resorts and Executive Vice President at Universal Parks and
Resorts, where he has 15 years experience. He is also a member
of the U.S. Travel Association and U.S. Secretary of Commerce's
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
And, finally, Mr. Roger Dow is the President and CEO of the
U.S. Travel Association, a role he has had since 2005. He
previously spent 34 years at Marriot International where he
served as a summer lifeguard at a Marriot Hotel and ended up as
Senior Vice President for Global and Field Sales.
OK, that would be like when I started as a waitress at
Baker's Square Pie Shop, but I spilled 12 iced teas on one
customer, and that was the end of my career there.
But, you made it up through the ranks, Mr. Dow.
Congratulations.
Mr. Dow. Thank you.
Senator Klobuchar. OK, we'll start with Mr. Cloobeck.
STATEMENT OF STEPHEN J. CLOOBECK, CHAIRMAN, CORPORATION FOR
TRAVEL PROMOTION
Mr. Cloobeck. Thank you, Madam Chairperson, and Ranking
Member Blunt.
I've already submitted my testimony in advance. I'm not
going to bore you all with the details that we've reviewed
before by members of the Administration.
I thought I'd give you just an open dialogue as to what
we've accomplished so far.
We have a diverse 11-member board with a high level of
expertise in all fields of travel and tourism. We were
appointed in late last fall. We met--our first meeting, I
believe, in October, and we tried to coalesce as quick as we
could. We were all appointed to organize ourselves without any
government support.
I'm proud to say, quickly, we were incorporated in D.C.,
created our bylaws and articles of incorporation, and created a
position of Chairperson, which I ascended to, and two Vice-
Chairs, Carolyn Bateta of California Tourism, and George
Fertitta of New York and Co.
We wanted to make sure when we created this organization
that we were open, we were transparent; so we decided to have
open board meetings, which we have on a monthly basis, some via
phone, some throughout the United States. We're moving the
corporation all over the United States.
We made sure that all of meeting minutes are on our
website, the corporationfortravelpromotion.org, and you're
welcome to see any of those meeting minutes.
We've also made sure that all stakeholders have been
included--all states, all territories.
In addition to that, we've reached out to all of the
constituent groups; we talked to TTAB policy; we've worked very
closely with Helen Marano at Commerce, with regard to research.
We have made sure that we're using all these dollars that
were given to us in a very wise fashion. To date, we've been
given $10 million in administrative funds, two and a half
million dollars, which has been given to us; and I can tell you
today we've only spent $180,000.
We've asked for a lot of pro bono and in-kind work from
various law firms and other folks within the travel and tourism
industry.
It's our mission not to squander these funds. We are
looking at this based on the return-on-investment capital, and
I know that's kind of a funky concept here in Washington, but
in business, that's the concept that we use every single day.
So, for every dollar we spend, we look at that return back
to us, and what we're getting for that. We've made a lot of
progress with regard to putting forth what our message will be.
None of those $10 million are authorized for us to use toward
marketing, pursuant to the statute.
So, we would ask you to think about, today, if we are ready
to put forth some marketing efforts throughout the world, how
we access some of those $10 million, since we have--we've
really not squandered any of the dollars, and we've got them to
spend, we'd like to spend them on marketing moneys.
But, herein lies an issue: In working with the President's
Export Council and other interagencies we've been extremely
collaborative; we are concerned with this budget that could
swell as large as $200 million to spend on international
marketing efforts. In our total collaboration what we do to
spend that money has to be thought of based on return-on-
investment capital, as I said; and because of that, I'm
concerned a little bit about what we found, candidly.
You mentioned some of these issues before: Visa wait times;
why don't we adopt the U.K. system? We've really put up
tremendous borders with regard to, you know, what we'd like to
do in promoting the United States. And, if we want to use these
dollars wisely, we, of course, can look at all the visa waiver
countries, but for us to sit back and wait for China to have a
bilateral treaty with the United States--I don't think we do
that in business. We're looking at 21--twenty-to-one return on
invested capital here. We're not spending any CAPEX. The
country's built. All we're asking folks to do is show up.
And, we have to really worry about how we're representing
ourselves when we're interviewing for visas. And, if we make
somebody wait 20 days, 30 days, 40 days, 120 days, are we
really being inviting?
So, I would ask you to think about that, and perhaps sit
down with the State Department. We're trying to do as much as
we can to facilitate a great collaboration, and I think we're
doing a good job. We should have an Executive Director hired
within the next, you know, 30 days; and you're going to see
some tremendous efforts from us going forward.
And, I look forward to any of your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Cloobeck follows:]
Prepared Statement by Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman of the Board,
Corporation for Travel Promotion
Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and honorable members
of the Subcommittee, thank you for your leadership on the issue of
growing the U.S. economy through travel and tourism. By helping the
U.S. compete in the world travel market we will create jobs and drive
economic growth here at home.
My name is Stephen J. Cloobeck. I am Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Diamond Resorts International, a global destination resort
business based in Las Vegas. We have nearly 200 resorts in 28 countries
around the world, including destinations throughout the continental
United States and Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia,
Australia and Africa.
I am also the Chairman of the Board of the Corporation for Travel
Promotion (CTP), which, thanks to your leadership, was established to
help the United States capture a greater share of international travel
and the spending it brings. Senator Klobuchar--a stalwart champion for
this industry--and Senator Blunt--lead co-sponsor of the Travel
Promotion Act in the House--I thank you both and this subcommittee for
your leadership and courage on behalf of the CTP Board and the travel
industry as a whole. I have a strong personal belief that travel
promotion will make America more competitive in the global marketplace
and that the work of the CTP will boost our country's economy. I
believe we share this perspective, and I look forward to continuing the
partnership with like-minded leaders in Congress like you.
Today I will provide you with an update on the Board's progress
since our appointment by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in late fall
2010. We are off to an excellent start as we work toward the
legislative goals of providing useful information to those interested
in traveling to the United States, identifying and addressing
perceptions regarding U.S. entry policies, and maximizing the economic
and diplomatic benefits of travel to all areas of the United States.
Why We Must Compete for International Travel
Travel is America's largest service sector export, representing 25
percent of all U.S. service exports and 7 percent of all goods and
services exported in 2010. When international visitors come to the
U.S., they spend close to $4,000 per person on hotels, restaurants,
attractions, retail and other activities. This added up to $134 billion
last year, which supported hundreds of thousands of jobs in communities
across the country.
But despite this good news, the U.S. should have done much better.
The U.S. has been losing share in the long-haul international
travel market for many years as travel globally has boomed. Our failure
to simply keep pace with the growth of the rest of the world has cost
the U.S. an estimated 68 million ``lost'' arrivals, $509 billion in
total spending, $32 billion in direct tax receipts and 441,000 travel-
related jobs that could have been created or sustained in the years
over the past decade.
There are several reasons for this. First, other countries and
destinations have grown more competitive; they are spending more on
marketing and promotion. For example, in 2009, Mexico spent $173.8
million, Australia spent $106.7 million, and France spent $96.0 million
on their respective national travel promotion programs. Second, there
are simply more destinations for travelers to choose from now. And
until this year, the U.S. has been one of the only industrialized
nations in the world that lacks a nationally coordinated program to
attract international travel.
Now, thanks to your leadership, we have a program that is designed
to address that competitive shortcoming.
About the Corporation for Travel Promotion
No taxpayer dollars are used to fund the Corporation for Travel
Promotion. The first 50 percent of the program's funding is required to
come from the private sector. For every dollar that the private sector
contributes to the program, an additional dollar of funding is
contributed through a nominal $10 fee paid by those visitors who have
been exempted from paying the $140 fee to acquire a visa.
This funding will be used to create a world-class marketing and
promotion program designed to attract more visitor spending to the
U.S., in order to drive economic growth and job creation.
While it is still too early to say exactly what the marketing
campaign will look like, the range of tactics will include advertising,
social media, outreach to intermediaries, trade show presence and many
other activities in key international markets, as deemed most effective
to yield the highest possible return on investment.
Oxford Economics, a globally respected economics firm, estimates
that this program could deliver a return on investment of 20:1. That
includes 1.6 million new visitors annually, $4 billion in new annual
spending, and 40,000 new U.S. jobs.
What We Have Accomplished So Far
Last fall, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke appointed the
Board of Directors, and in October we held our first meeting to discuss
a work plan and move toward formation of the Corporation.
At the outset, the Board agreed on two core principles. The first
is transparency in all our actions and decisions; our monthly Board
meetings are open to the public, and meeting records are posted on our
website. The second is a commitment to maximizing return on invested
capital (ROIC); we will make use of all existing resources from the
government and industry partners, such as market research. We look for
free or donated meeting spaces, so that every single dollar of the
Travel Promotion Fund can be used to maximize ROIC for the U.S.
economy.
Since our first meeting, the 11-member Board has been working to
achieve a number of milestones on an accelerated timetable and engage
in regular activities to keep the public informed of our actions and
the program moving forward. Our progress to date includes:
Monthly Board meetings--emphasizing full transparency--that
are open to the public for comments and questions;
Completion of various legal filings, including non-profit
status;
Initiation of the 501(c)(6) filing;
Hiring of firms to conduct third-party audits and perform
day-to-day accounting functions;
Issuance of request for proposals (RFPs) for legal counsel;
Evaluation of resources and needs, with an eye toward
developing a strategic plan to guide the early years of the
entity;
Creation of Board committees and request for industry
participation on advisory boards to expand the CTP's expertise;
Meeting with Canadian Tourism Commission and numerous U.S.
destinations to help develop in-kind contribution standards;
Memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Departments of
Treasury and Commerce regarding in-kind contributions, to be
finalized upon review of third-party auditors;
Meetings with and continued communication and cooperation
with the Departments of Commerce, State and Homeland Security
and Customs and Border Protection;
Cooperation with the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and
the President's Exports Council to align goals and strategies;
Analysis of existing market research from sources including
the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, Oxford Economics
and numerous destinations, and identification of future
research needs;
First promotional video to be revealed next month;
Creation of a website
(www.corporationfortravelpromotion.com) to inform stakeholders
and other interested parties about our ongoing progress; and
Ongoing outreach to policymakers and inclusiveness with
industry stakeholders in all states and territories for input
and advice.
What Is Ahead
We are committed to using resources as efficiently and effectively
as possible, in order to maximize the return for the U.S. economy. The
CTP has spent only a fraction of a percent of the original funding from
the Department of the Treasury. Wherever possible we have leveraged
available resources from government agencies, our Board members and the
industry at large.
Moving forward, the marketing money we spend will be based on
return on invested capital. And we look forward to launching our in-
kind contributions campaign in the coming months, so that when matching
funds become available on October 1, we will be able to hit the ground
running with our marketing program. Our Board members and members of
our staffs have already donated hundreds of hours in services to the
CTP, in addition to more than $70,000 worth of travel and meeting
expenses that will be available for matching.
Our next major step is to hire an executive director and senior
staff. That search is well underway, and we hope to make an
announcement soon.
As we work to ensure that international visitors are invited and
encouraged to come to America, we will also work simultaneously with
the Departments of State and Homeland Security to ensure that this new
influx of travelers can be accommodated by our visa and entry systems.
From new consular offices where backlogs are high to finding more
efficient alternatives to in-person visa interviews, and from loosening
bottlenecks at our Nation's airports to a simple ``Welcome to the
United States'' greeting from CBP, we pledge to work with Congress and
the administration to find creative and secure solutions--for both the
short-term and long-term--to improve our existing systems so that this
important economic opportunity is not wasted.
To close, I want to reiterate that we are 100 percent committed to
transparency, and I invite you all to visit our website and review our
minutes from past meetings and mark your calendars for our future
meetings.
By business standards, the CTP has gotten off to a rapid start that
makes us well poised to achieve the maximum return on investment
generated from America's greatest export--travel and tourism. The CTP
has a critical job ahead of us, and we are up to the task. I would like
to thank you again for your leadership and look forward to our
continued partnership and collaboration with Congress and the
administration.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much.
Ms. Johnson?
STATEMENT OF NANCY JOHNSON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
DEVELOPMENT, CARLSON HOTELS, AMERICAS
Ms. Johnson. Thank you, Chairman Klobuchar, Ranking Member
Blunt, and other distinguished members.
I come to you with a little bit of a discussion that you've
already heard on the importance of the travel and tourism issue
that we are addressing, but also for a request for better
government efficiencies and a better sense of urgency to the
problem.
I represent Carlson Companies, which is a family-owned
business that has over 1,070 hotels and 900 restaurants, and a
major owner of Carlson Wagonlit Travel. We have 150,000
employees in over 150 countries, and today, Carlson is lead by
Chair, Marilyn Carlson Nelson and CEO, Hubert Joly.
It was my distinct pleasure to work with Hubert in his
position sitting on the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and
as Chair of the Subcommittee for Travel Facilitation.
Travel, and in particular, international tourism is a vital
part of our economy. And, that has been said time and time
again. But it is tourism in general that oftentimes gets
overlooked, and is an invisible export.
Now, President Obama's goal of doubling the exports over
the next 5 years can quite easily and logically be addressed by
paying attention to tourism, but all we have to do is to make
sure that, as was stated, facilitate visa processing; and then
when they come to our borders, welcome them as guests to our
country.
And, that is the key issue. I've been in the hospitality
business for over 40 years, and in our hotels, if we did not
treat every customer that walked through that door as if they
were a guest in our house, they would go stay somewhere else.
And that is what our international travelers are doing to us
today.
Now, today, while some issues surrounding impediments to
tourism are looked at as being perception rather than reality,
it is a fact that international tourists find the United States
less inviting; and it is more difficult to enter than other
countries.
Given that, I think Senator Klobuchar pointed out the
dollars that are involved in bringing in these international
visitors. We need to make sure we pay particular attention at
our ports-of-entry on how we greet these customers.
Treating tourists in a respectful and efficient manner at
our borders is important for at least two reasons: Studies show
that some potential tourists choose to not visit our country
because there is a negative general perception by international
visitors as how they will be treated; and then the second
problem is the delay in the passengers meeting--making their
connecting flights. They're worried that they will not be able
to connect through and get onto their connecting flights, which
is a great loss of revenue to our airline industry.
In 2009, 39 percent of overseas travelers to the United
States waited more than 30 minutes, and some have waited as
long as 2 hours. This is simply too long. The visa point of
entry problem has run--has been brought forward to government
bodies many times in the past.
After September 11, Mr. Bill Marriott and Marilyn Carlson
Nelson testified at a hearing very similar to this one on the
importance of tourism to the national economic recovery. In
2009, the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board made a
recommendation to the Secretary of Commerce that is very
similar to the ones that our subcommittee made to Secretary
Locke.
And, even President Obama has gathered tourism industry
leaders to advise him on how to improve travel and tourism
export deficiencies.
I believe, and I ask this panel--this committee to listen
to these industry leaders. It is time that we pay attention to
this valuable asset that we have in travel and tourism; and
together we can make a difference.
Addressing the visa and customer service experience is
something that has already been done, as was mentioned by the
previous panel. We've done--made some improvements, but the big
problem is, is that we have not established key benchmarks in
gathering metrics that allow us to set goals for improvement.
That has to be done across government agencies; and it is
critical for us to move forward. So, collecting the number of
overseas international visitors and our market--establishing
our market share; monitoring wait times; number of travelers
enrolled in our Global Entry Program; and, in addition, the
recommendation has been made to the Secretary of Commerce to
establish goals, solid goals that a wait time of less than 20
minutes at our ports of entry, to strengthen our model
airports.
To correct a misstatement before, only 2 out of the 20
airports are actually established with the model airport entry.
And then to ramp up our Global Entry Program.
In her book, How We Lead Matters, Marilyn Carlson Nelson
reflects on a conversation with former Prime Minister of
Israel, Shimon Peres regarding the impact that tourism could
have on peace in the Middle East. Marilyn reflected, ``I have
always felt privileged to be associated with an industry that
raises living standards and provides entry-level jobs as well
as lifetime careers. As the Prime Minister reminded me, its
contribution is even greater. Through the continuing exposure
facilitated by the tourism industry to others of different
cultural, religious and political backgrounds, there is hope
that we can chip away at the hatred and prejudice that separate
us. There is, indeed, work to be done.''
Thank you. And, I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Johnson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Nancy Johnson, Executive Vice President
Development, Carlson Hotels, Americas
Thank you, Senator Klobuchar and Senator Blunt, for holding this
very important hearing.
Background
My name is Nancy Johnson, Executive Vice President of Development
for Carlson Hotels and the incoming chair of the American Hotel &
Lodging Association which represents nine thousand hotel members.
I have worked in the hotel industry for 40 years and I have had the
privilege of working for Carlson for 22 years. Carlson is a family-
owned, global hospitality and travel company. Headquartered in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Carlson encompasses more than 1,070 hotels in
77 countries; more than 900 restaurants in 60 countries; and a majority
stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel, the global leader in business travel
management. Carlson operates in more than 150 countries and its brands
employ about 150,000 people.
Today Carlson is lead by Chairwoman, Marilyn Carlson Nelson and
CEO, Hubert Joly. Hubert Joly also sits on the Travel and Tourism
Advisory Board (TTAB), which reports to the Department of Commerce.
Hubert is Chairman of the Travel Facilitation subcommittee of TTAB. The
TTAB was formed to advise the Secretary of Commerce on opportunities to
stimulate travel and tourism and subsequently increase jobs and
economic growth.
The Importance of Travel
Travel, and in particular international tourism, is a vital part of
our economy. International travelers stay in our hotels, rent cars, go
to our theme parks, eat in our restaurants, shop at our stores, and
hire our tour operators. Research shows that International tourists
spend on average between $3,000 and $4,000 during each of their trips
to our country.
Tourism oftentimes does not get the attention it deserves. Tourism
has been referred to as the ``invisible export'' because its benefits
are often overlooked even though it generates more export revenue than
automobiles and computers. It surpasses agricultural exports by two to
one. This spending supports approximately 900,000 jobs and $23 billion
in wages. Put simply, overseas visitors create jobs and economic
opportunity in communities across the United States.
Increasing international tourism is one of the easiest ways to help
achieve President Obama's goal of doubling exports over the next 5
years. To increase tourism, we do not need to build a new factory. We
just need to find ways to get more legitimate travelers into our
country. Equally important--we need to make sure they have a positive
experience when they visit the United States.
As other witnesses have discussed, more and more countries are
competing for the same international tourists to come to their country.
So, if a potential tourist has a negative perception of how they will
be treated in the United States, they will choose to spend their money
in a different country. It is in our national interest to ensure
international tourists have a positive experience during their visit to
the United States.
Today, while some issues surrounding impediments to tourism may be
perception versus reality, and while progress is being made, the U.S.
does suffer from a real performance gap as it relates to the way we
treat visitors.
Impediments to Increasing International Tourism--Getting Tourists
through the Border
In particular, the experience of international visitors at the
country's borders is a source of concern. Being a Global company,
Carlson is uniquely qualified to give testimony to the port of entry
experience our employees and business associates realize regularly. In
the hotel industry if we are not hospitable to people--if we do not put
on a friendly face--our customers will go somewhere else.
We look at our borders the same way. If a person has a bad
experience entering the country they probably will not come back. And
when they go home, they will tell their friends and neighbors about
their bad experience. In a world where other countries are vigorously
competing for tourist dollars, we have to make their experience in our
country--from beginning to end--pleasant and enjoyable. Treating
tourists in a respectful and efficient manner at our borders is
important for at least two reasons:
1. Studies show that some potential tourists choose to not
visit our country because there is a general negative
perception by international visitors as to how they will be
treated by U.S. border officials; and
2. Delays in passenger screening is the major cause of missed
international connections, which is a significant source of
loss for U.S. airlines.
It is vital to our economy that our government recognizes the
importance of addressing these problems, which is one of the reasons
that I am here today. I am not generally active in politics. However, a
conference call with several government agency representatives last
year galvanized my interest in the travel facilitation issue. The
conference call was scheduled to discuss how to increase international
tourism. During the call, an executive suggested several measures that
would be more efficient and financially self-sustaining. We were told
by government officials that the government does not look at the travel
facilitation issues with an ``eye toward return on investment.'' You
can understand why this conversation called me to action.
Clearance Time for International Tourists
In 2009, 39 percent of overseas travelers to the U.S. waited more
than 30 minutes to be cleared through immigration at the Nation's
airports. And there are far too many instances of people having to wait
up to 2 hours to simply get through the customs and immigration lines.
This is simply too long.
Moreover, these statistics are based on incomplete data, because we
do not keep good data at our borders. This makes it very hard for us to
pinpoint a lot of our problems and come up with the best solutions.
In the hotel industry, that attitude toward data collection would
lose market share and brand positioning. For instance, at our hotel
call center in Omaha we know exactly how long it takes a reservation
agent to serve a customer and how many customers an agent can handle in
an hour and how many agents we need to staff for peak call times. I can
tell you that our average talk time is 187 seconds resulting in an
average of 19 calls per hour. It is keeping data like this that allows
Carlson to be a world leader in hospitality.
But All is Not Lost
The visa and port of entry problem has been brought forward to
government bodies many times in the past; after September 11, 2001, Mr.
Bill Marriott and Marilyn Carlson Nelson testified at a hearing very
similar to this one on the importance of tourism to the national
economic recovery. In 2009, the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board made
recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce that are very similar to
the ones industry representatives are presenting today. And, President
Obama has gathered tourism industry leaders to advise him on how to
improve travel and tourism export deficiencies.
I believe it is time to listen to these industry leaders that have
so graciously donated their time and talent to help the United States
improve. Together we can make a difference . . . together, we can
improve both the perception and the actual image of the United States,
and consequently improve our economic position among the leading
nations around the globe. This problem is not insurmountable. With the
cooperation of our government counterparts we can right the ship.
Addressing the visa and customer service experience related issues
can be done through a few measures at minimal net direct cost to the
U.S. tax-payers and an effective partnership with the State Department,
the Department of Homeland Security, Congress, local airport
authorities and the travel & tourism industry.
First, we need to establish key metrics:
Number of overseas international visitors and market share
Wait times at visa processing centers in key emerging
countries
Number of visa processing locations in key emerging
countries
Number of countries added to the Visa Waiver program
Wait times at model ports
Number of travelers enrolled in Global Entry Program
Number of countries with reciprocal agreements
Traveler satisfaction at the Nation's borders
Image of the U.S. amongst international travelers
In addition, the Travel Facilitation subcommittee of TTAB has made
recommendations to address the issues related to the customer service
experience at the Nation's borders, including:
1. Establish a goal for wait time at international airports and
cruise terminals of less than 20 minutes and measure the
performance against that goal;
2. Strengthen the implementation of the Model Ports of Entry
program, through an increased staffing flexibility and customer
service focus and through a public/private partnership
established at each model port (``Adopt an airport program'');
3. Ramp up the Global Entry Program for U.S. citizens,
permanent residents, and trusted international visitors to
reach a number of participants sufficient to materially reduce
the workload of the Customs and Board Protection officers.
The tourism industry has offered to share industry best practices
on staffing models and marketing solutions to various branches of
government to improve our port of entry process. We are hopeful that
the administration will take advantage of our offers. If the United
States is to improve our standing as a world leader in the tourism
industry, we need to be the best in the world in visa and port of entry
operations.
In her book How We Lead Matters: Reflections on a Life of
Leadership, Marilyn Carlson Nelson reflects on a conversation with the
former Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Peres regarding the impact
tourism could have on peace in the Middle East. She wrote, ``I have
always felt privileged to be associated with an industry that raises
living standards and provides entry-level jobs as well as lifetime
careers. As the Prime Minister reminded me that day, its contribution
is even greater. Through the continuing exposure facilitated by the
tourism industry to others of different cultural, religious and
political backgrounds, there is hope that we can chip away at the
hatred and prejudice that separate us. There's work to be done.''
Thank you and I look forward to answering your questions.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you, Ms. Johnson.
Mr. Sprouls.
STATEMENT OF JOHN SPROULS, CEO, UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT; AND
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSAL PARKS AND RESORTS
Mr. Sprouls. Thank you, Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking
Member Blunt, and members of the Subcommittee, for this
opportunity to focus on tourism as a key driver in the United
States economy.
As our country emerges from difficult economic times, our
industry stands ready to play a leadership role in job
creation.
Universal Orlando, alone, recently made a tremendous
investment toward our own growth in the growth of the Central
Florida economy with a project called ``The Wizarding World of
Harry Potter.''
Because our business is both national and international,
our investment has helped to grow travel both to Central
Florida and to the United States. This increased visitation
required us to hire more than 1,000 new workers in 2010.
A large percentage of our growth and our hope for the
future comes from the international market. If we and the
entire industry are to continue to grow, we will need to work
with you to remove the significant regulatory barriers that
exist in some of the top international travel markets.
I am talking about the process of gaining entry into the
United States for those tourists who are foreign nationals
traveling to the U.S. from a non Visa Waiver Country.
I respectfully request, Madame Chair, that a copy of a
February 1, 2011, letter and study presented to Secretary Locke
on behalf of the Tourism and Travel Advisory Board's Travel
Facilitation Subcommittee be placed into the record of this
committee meeting. The report outlines many of the issues and
potential solutions being discussed today.
[The information referred to is attached to Mr. Sproul's
statement.]
The President's recent comments during his visit to Brazil
provide the industry with hope that these recommendations are
being taken seriously within the Administration.
Let me be clear about an important point: Our industry
absolutely supports having a secure border. We absolutely agree
that security has to come first and foremost in the eyes of the
federal government. But we don't believe that position must be
at odds with creating an efficient, user-friendly process for
international travelers who want to visit the United States.
If travelers from a specific country demonstrate continued
respect for our rules, including low overstay rates and low
visa processing denials, then there has to be an easier way for
that country to gain entry into the Visa Waiver Program.
If we don't follow an objective process, we will continue
to lag behind others in realizing the economic gains from
emerging foreign markets critical to our continued growth.
We must start by making the visa application process more
timely and efficient for the applicant. As booking cycles for
leisure and business travels continue to compress, we can't
continue to condone the wait times of today. Like everyone
else, travelers will follow the path of least resistance and go
where they feel welcome.
And while I give those at the State Department high marks
for trying to address the situation, current wait times for
visa applicants in our embassies and consulates in certain
regions of the world are simply not acceptable. This situation
will only become worse when the Corporation for Travel
Promotion starts targeting specific regions with the new travel
promotion funds.
The Corporation and State Department must work closely
together to ensure one doesn't drive demand that the other
can't handle, otherwise, both private and federal marketing
dollars will not see the return-on-investment.
An example of two key emerging markets is identified on
this chart to my right. Brazil and China are being looked at by
those countries competing for tourism business as strong
opportunities to take business away from the United States. For
example, if you look at the chart, Rio currently has a 107-day
wait period for a visa interview. As travel booking cycles
become shorter and shorter, visa processing times, such as
those in Rio, are simply outside acceptable parameters.
Brazilian travelers from Rio who typically vacation in the
states during the July through August summer time frame now
fall outside the booking cycle for summer 20ll travel.
[The information referred to is attached to Mr. Sproul's
statement.]
These same travelers will now most likely find alternative
destinations. A wait time of that duration screams for urgent
attention, and in the future we must trigger automatic manpower
shifts or technology upgrades within the embassy and consulate
corps to address.
The TTAB's recommendation was to immediately add a few
hundred officers to these areas of most urgent need.
Distance becomes a problem in many of these emerging
markets. Mature markets tend to have sufficient embassies and
consulates to address the needs of a specific country, but in
the case of emerging markets we've not reacted quickly enough
to establish our outreach locations. An example in Brazil would
be the City of Manuas, with a population of more than 2 million
people, and it's located more than 1,000 miles from the closest
consulate. We expect a family to travel a greater distance than
I flew to attend this committee hearing on the chance they will
be awarded a visa to come to our shores.
The cost in time and money simply places an artificial
barrier in the way of these important travelers, who spend an
average of over $5,000 per person over during their visits.
We're very pleased that during President Obama's visit to
Brazil he agreed that more progress needs to be made on these
visa concerns, and we stand ready to work with him and Congress
on this task. The most important step that can be taken with
the Brazilian market is to stop requiring visas from Brazilians
all together.
All of South America, the European Union and Russia have
already granted Brazilians visa-free travel privileges for
short visits. While Brazil does not currently qualify for visa-
free privileges with the U.S., it is likely that Brazil could
meet the requirements in the next couple of years.
Therefore we urge Congress to press the State Department to
form a formal working group with Brazil that will outline
specific actions that Brazil could begin to take today to meet
the visa waiver requirements. Through this working group,
progress in meeting the program's qualifications can then be
measured and evaluated.
We also urge the Committee to support S. 497, which is
bipartisan legislation recently introduced by Senators Mikulski
and Kirk, that updates the Visa Waiver Program framework to
reflect improved capabilities to track travelers entering and
exiting the U.S.
The simple math alone tell us we need to look at the issue
of visas differently.
Brazilians have spent $3 billion in international
destinations globally during January and February 2011, a 38
percent increase over the same 2010 period. Our tourism sector
stands prepared to welcome these visitors, but first we need
our partners in government to work with the industry to ensure
these people are welcomed.
The private sector, Congress, and the Executive Branch are
partners in what must be a seamless travel experience. Working
together we can create thousands of new jobs while increasing
the image of America across the globe.
I look forward to answering any questions you may have, and
again thank you for this opportunity.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Sprouls follows:]
Prepared Statement of John Sprouls, CEO, Universal Orlando Resort; and
Executive Vice President, Universal Parks and Resorts
Thank you, Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt and members
of the Subcommittee. My name is John Sprouls, and I appear before you
today as CEO of Universal Orlando Resort and EVP of Administration
worldwide for Universal Parks and Resorts. We currently have theme
parks in Orlando, Hollywood, Japan and Singapore as well as on-going
contractual arrangements in Korea and Dubai. I also have the honor of
serving as a member of the U.S. Travel Association and United States
Secretary of Commerce's Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (TTAB)
focusing my time on the Travel Facilitation Subcommittee.
I want to commend the Subcommittee on showing the foresight to
focus on tourism as a key driver in the United States economy. As our
country emerges from difficult economic times, our industry stands
ready to play a leadership role in job creation. Universal Orlando
alone recently made a tremendous investment toward our own growth and
the growth of the Central Florida economy with a project called ``The
Wizarding World of Harry Potter.'' Because our business is both
national and international, our investment has helped to grow travel
both to Central Florida and to the United States. This increased
visitation required Universal Orlando to hire more than 1,000 new
workers in 2010.
A large percentage of our growth--and hope for the future--comes
from the international market. If we--and the entire industry--are to
continue to grow, we will need to work with you to remove significant
regulatory barriers that exist in some of our top international travel
markets.
I am talking about the process of gaining entry into the United
States for those tourists who are foreign nationals traveling to the
United States from a non Visa Waiver Country. I respectfully request
Madame Chair, that a copy of a February 1, 2011 letter and study
presented to Secretary Locke on behalf of the TTAB's Travel
Facilitation Subcommittee be placed into the record of this committee
meeting (Attachment A). The report outlines many of the issues and
potential solutions being discussed today. The President's recent
comments during his visit to Brazil provide the industry with hope that
these recommendations are being taken seriously within the
Administration.
Let me be clear about an important point: Our industry absolutely
supports having a secure border. We absolutely agree that security has
to come first and foremost in the eyes of the federal government. But
we don't believe that position must be at odds with creating an
efficient, user-friendly process for international travelers who want
to visit the United States. If travelers from a specific country
demonstrate continued respect of our rules, including low overstay
rates and low visa processing denials, then there has to be an easier
way for that country to gain entry into the Visa Waiver Program. The
process should be based solely upon benchmarks previously mentioned,
rather than the political winds of the day. If we don't follow an
objective process, we will continue to lag behind others in realizing
the economic gains from emerging foreign markets critical to our
continued growth.
We must start by making the visa application process more timely
and efficient for the applicant. As booking cycles for leisure and
business travel continue to compress, we can't continue to condone the
wait times of today. Like everyone else, travelers will follow the path
of least resistance and go where they feel welcome. And while I give
those at the State Department high marks for trying to address the
situation, current wait times for visa applicants in our embassies and
consulates in certain regions of the world are simply not acceptable.
This situation will only become worse when the Corporation for Travel
Promotion starts targeting specific regions with the new travel
promotion funds. The Corporation and State Department must work closely
together to ensure one doesn't drive demand the other can't handle.
Otherwise both private and federal marketing dollars will not see their
return on investment.
An example of two key emerging markets is identified on this chart
(Attachment B--Brazil and China). Brazil and China are being looked at
by those countries competing for tourism business as strong
opportunities to take business away from the United States. Please note
Rio in particular currently has a 113-day wait period for a visa
interview. As travel booking cycles become shorter and shorter, visa
processing times such as those in Rio are simply outside acceptable
parameters. Brazilian travelers from Rio who typically vacation in the
States during the July through August time-frame now fall outside the
booking cycle for summer 2011 travel. These same travelers, without
current visas, will now most likely find alternative destinations. A
wait time of that duration screams for urgent attention and in the
future must trigger automatic manpower shifts or technology upgrades
within the embassy/consulate corps to address. The TTAB's
recommendation was to immediately add a few hundred officers to these
areas of most urgent need.
Distance becomes a problem in many of these emerging markets.
Mature markets tend to have sufficient embassy/consulates to address
the needs of a specific country. In the case of emerging markets we
have not reacted quickly enough to establish our outreach locations. An
example in Brazil would be the City of Manaus, with a population of
more than 2 million, is located more than 1,000 miles from the closest
consulate. We expect a family to travel a greater distance than I flew
to attend this committee hearing on the chance they will be awarded a
visa to come to our shores. The cost in time and money simply places an
artificial barrier in the way of these important travelers, who spend
an average of $5,100 per person over 10 days during their visits.
We are very pleased that during President Obama's visit to Brazil
he agreed that more progress needs to be made on these visa concerns
and we stand ready to work with him and Congress on this task. The most
important step that can be taken with the Brazilian market is to stop
requiring visas from Brazilians all together. All of South America, the
EU and Russia have already granted Brazilians visa-free travel
privileges for short visits.
While Brazil does not currently qualify for visa-free privileges
with the U.S., it is likely that Brazil could meet the requirements in
the next couple of years. Therefore we urge Congress to press the State
Department to form a formal working group with Brazil that will outline
specific actions that Brazil could begin to take today to meet the visa
waiver requirements. Through this working group, progress in meeting
the program's qualifications can then be measured and evaluated.
We also urge the Committee to support S. 497, bipartisan
legislation recently introduced by Senators Mikulski and Kirk that
updates the Visa Waiver Program framework to reflect improved
capabilities to track travelers entering and exiting the U.S. and
improves annual reporting to increase oversight and transparency of the
program.
Other countries have decided to make the investment in these
emerging markets. In China, where the United States has placed five
embassy/consulate locations to process visas, the United Kingdom has
twelve, France and Canada have six each, Germany five and Italy four.
Each of these countries has a lower intent-to-visit factor versus the
United States, but yet has a greater or similar outreach footprint as
this Country. Until the United States can determine a way to adjust
processing locations to meet current demand, Universal will support
utilizing technology to assist in solutions, i.e., visa
videoconferencing where interviews can be conducted over a secure
channel.
Universal supports making two changes to on-going State Department
operations. We support allowing the State Department to develop a
smaller consulate footprint that will serve singularly as a processing
center. Congress would need to authorize these processing centers while
allowing the State Department to keep funds generated from applicants
to offset start-up costs and staffing. We also believe greater latitude
needs to be provided to State, in consultation with the Department of
Homeland Security, in determining when to waive the personal interview
requirement. Two examples provided in the TTAB's report are Brazilian
teens younger than 16 or Chinese students re-applying for student
visas. Neither of these categories should automatically call for an
interview when paperwork and backgrounds are in order.
The simple math alone tells us we need to look at the issue of
visas differently. Brazilians have spent $3.07 billion in international
destinations globally during January and February 2011, a 38 percent
increase over the same 2010 period (source: Brazil's Central Bank). The
United States tourism sector stands prepared to welcome these visitors
to our shore, but first we need our partners in government to work as
one with the industry to ensure these travelers are welcomed with open
arms. The private sector, Congress and the Executive Branch are
partners in what must be a seamless travel experience. Working together
we can create thousands of new jobs while increasing the image of
America around the globe.
I look forward to answering any questions you may have and again
thank you for this opportunity to appear in front of the Subcommittee.
Attachment A
The Travel and Tourism Advisory Board
February 1, 2011
Secretary Gary Locke,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
Washington, DC.
Dear Secretary Locke,
On behalf of the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, we would like
to thank you for your ongoing support to the travel and tourism
industry and the opportunity you have given us to contribute to its
development by appointing us to this Advisory Board. Through this
letter, we are respectfully submitting the conclusions of our work on
facilitating international travel to the United States.
In short, we believe that facilitating international travel to the
United States offers the opportunity to contribute in a major way to
President Obama's goal to ``double the country's exports over the next
5 years, an increase that will support two million jobs in America.''
Specifically, we have reached three conclusions:
1. The U.S. has the opportunity to create up to 500,000 new
jobs and generate up to USD 60 billion in additional exports
annually if it can recapture its lost market share of overseas
international travel by 2015, or, said differently, if it can
grow the number of international visitors from overseas from
23.8 million in 2009 to 40 million in 2015. Irrespective of the
target that one would like to select, it should be noted that
each additional million international visitors from overseas
generates USD 3.2 billion in additional exports and creates
27,000 new jobs (see Appendix A for details);
2. Challenges with visas and the experience crossing the
country's borders are important obstacles to travel to the U.S.
At a time when the country is in the process of beginning to
promote travel to the U.S. in international markets, it seems
quite appropriate to address these obstacles (see Appendix B
for details);
3. Addressing the visa and customer service experience related
issues can be done through a few measures at minimal net direct
cost to the U.S. tax-payers and an effective partnership with
the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security,
Congress, local airport authorities and the travel and tourism
industry.
While our findings and recommendations are detailed in the attached
report, we would like to summarize our recommendations here.
Building on a number of efforts that have been initiated by the
administration and Congress to address some of the visa and border
issues,\1\ the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board has developed 10
concrete recommendations to address key visa and customer service
issues. At the risk of repetition, increasing the number of
international visitors from overseas to the U.S. to more than 40
million by 2015 would create up to 500,000 new jobs and generate up to
USD 60 billion in additional exports annually (Exhibit 1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This includes trusted traveler programs, a few pilot efforts in
some model airports, the ramp up of the visa waiver program, the Travel
Promotion Act, and various efforts to improve visa processing.
Specifically, the Board has the following seven recommendations to
address the key visa-related issues. The first four recommendations are
focused on improving the quality of service as it relates to visa
processing. The following three recommendations would drastically
reduce the need for in-person interviews for visa processing, which is
a major source of issues and workload today.
Recommendation number 1: Establish a maximum wait time of 5 days
for visa processing to make it competitive with the European countries.
Out of the 222 overseas posts that the State Department operates,
the wait time for an in-person interview was less than 7 days at 164
posts. However, the wait time in China, Brazil, and to a lesser extent
India, have tended to be quite long (i.e., several weeks) and
significantly higher than the wait times for the countries that the
U.S. is competing with (Exhibit 2). Reducing the wait time in these
critically important countries to 5 days would help make travel to the
U.S. more competitive.
Recommendation number 2: Add a few hundred officers in visa
processing centers in key emerging countries to reduce wait time and
meet growing demand.
We recommend that you encourage the State Department to quickly
ramp up the staffing of visa processing centers in key emerging
countries (notably China, Brazil and India) by a few hundred officers.
Across China and Brazil, 500-600 additional officers would seem
sufficient to meet growing demand and reduce wait times (Exhibit 3).
The net cost to the U.S. tax-payers to add these resources is non-
existent as each officer generates about USD 1.5 million in fees per
year (Exhibit 4).
According to the State Department, this incremental staffing should
take the form of officers with a limited time contract to avoid
creating a glut of permanent State Department employees. Also, the
State Department should consider the extent to which implementing video
conferencing would be helpful in optimizing the deployment of its
staff. The actual staffing requirement may eventually be reduced if and
when recommendations number 5, 6 and 7 are implemented. We believe that
this is not a reason to delay the immediate addition of incremental
staff because of the attractive return and the flexibility of limited
time contracts.
Recommendation number 3: Add 4-6 visa processing locations each in
China, Brazil and India. We recommend that you ask the State Department
to quickly increase the number of processing locations in the key
emerging countries, probably adding 4-6 visa processing locations each
in China, Brazil and India (Exhibit 5). The key criteria for choosing
the additional cities should be their size and economic importance.
Priority cities in China should probably include: Chongqing, Dalian,
Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Wuhan.
Recommendation number 4: Enable the State Department to retain all
the visa processing and consular fees to cover the costs of its
consular staffing and visa processing activities.
The rationale for this recommendation and the expected benefits are
to enable the State Department to develop its visa processing
activities with a profit center focus, i.e., keep adding officers until
profitable demand is met.
Recommendation number 5: Increase the validity of non-immigrant
visas for Chinese visitors to 10 years.
The rationale for this recommendation and its expected benefits are
to reduce the workload of the officers as visa renewals represent a
significant share (30 percent) of the current workload in China and to
reduce the burden for Chinese visitors. We note that such a measure has
been taken for other countries, including Brazil and India.
Recommendation number 6: Give the State Department more discretion
as it relates to in-person interviews.
We recommend that you work with Congress to give the State
Department more discretion as it relates to in-person interviews.
Congress should find out from State and Homeland Security whether in-
person interviews are necessary and appropriate for 100 percent of
prospective visitors from non-visa waiver countries or whether
technology and judgment could enable the State Department to grant
visas to certain visitors without an in-person interview and without
compromising security.
One option would be to move to a principle of interview-by-
exception, i.e., the practice of many of the countries we compete with.
Another option would be for the Secretary of State to take greater
advantage of the authority she has under INA sec. 222(h), subject to
certain limitations, to waive the personal interview requirement on the
basis of a U.S. national interest or if necessary because of unusual or
emergent circumstances. The State Department is in fact considering
possible categories of applicants for whom the Secretary might exercise
her interview waiver authority (for example, Brazilian teens younger
than 16 or Chinese students reapplying for student visas).
Recommendation number 7: Restore the ability of the Secretary of
Homeland Security to admit countries into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)
with a refusal rate of 10 percent or less by decoupling the air exit
requirement from the VWP. Work with key strategic partners to
facilitate their entry into the program.
As was experienced with South Korea, including a country in the
visa waiver program has a large positive impact on the volume of
international travel from that country to the U.S.
We recommend that you ask the State Department to nominate
additional countries for inclusion in the visa waiver program over the
next few years. To this end, The TTAB recommends that you ask Congress
to separate the requirement to implement a biometric air exit system
from the Visa Waiver Program. Such a change would once again allow the
Secretary of Homeland Security to designate new countries as Visa
Waiver Program members by restoring the visa refusal rate cutoff of 10
percent. This action would pave the way for several strategic markets
to join the program, facilitating the entry of millions of new visitors
to the United States.
Major international partners around the world that merit
consideration include, in particular, Brazil as well as other key
countries from South America, e.g., Argentina and Chile (Exhibit 6).
According to the Department of Homeland Security, there are other
factors, beyond the refusal rate issue, which make Brazil, Argentina,
and Chile ineligible for VWP membership under current law. For example,
they have not signed the required information sharing agreements (PCSC
and HSPD-6); the required reporting of lost and stolen passports to
INTERPOL is either rare (in the case of Brazil) or non-existent
(Argentina, Chile); Brazil does not offer visa-free travel to U.S.
passport holders, and charges a combined $160 fee for entry; and only
Brazil currently issues biometric passports--another legal requirement
for entry into the VWP.
While it may take a while before these countries are ready, we
recommend that the administration take a proactive approach to moving
the process forward, given the economic weight of these countries and
that Brazilian citizens do not need a visa to visit the Schengen
countries today.
The Travel and Tourism Advisory Board then has three
recommendations to address the issues related to the customer service
experience at the Nation's borders:
Recommendation number 8: Establish a goal for wait time at
international airports and cruise terminals of less than 20 minutes and
measure the performance against that goal (Exhibit 7).
Recommendation number 9: Strengthen the implementation of the Model
Ports of Entry program, through an increased staffing flexibility and
customer service focus and through a public/private partnership
established at each model port (``Adopt an airport program'').
Building on a number of current initiatives, steps can be taken to
reduce peak wait times and improve the customer service experience at
key ports. They include:
Increasing staffing flexibility of the CBP officers, e.g.,
enabling the use of flexible working hours and part-time labor
to be better able to meet fluctuations in the number of
incoming travelers, and enhancing the use of scheduling system
and staffing models;
Enhancing the overall customer service focus, e.g.,
deploying the traveler satisfaction survey developed by the
Department of Homeland Security, updating the Explore America
International Travelers survey last conducted in 2006,
continuing to deploy customer service training, and directing
CBP officers to greet arriving passengers with ``Welcome to the
United States'' or ``Welcome home.''
A promising approach to get this done, and make the arrival
experience more welcoming, would be to establish a public/private
partnership at port level with the local port authority, DHS
representatives, and main relevant airlines and local travel and
tourism companies, to make the arrival experience more welcoming.
We, therefore, recommend that you work with the Department of
Homeland Security, local port authorities and the travel and tourism
industry to initiate such public/private partnerships for each key
port.
Recommendation number 10: Ramp up the Global Entry Program for U.S.
citizens, permanent residents, and trusted international visitors to
reach a number of participants sufficient to materially reduce the
workload of the Customs and Border Protection officers (i.e., 10
million). This entails specifically working with the Department of
Homeland Security to:
Ramp up the Global Entry Program for U.S. citizens and
permanent residents, e.g., by:
Enhancing marketing efforts, including encouraging the
State Department to provide information about Global Entry
to people who are applying for a U.S. passport; and by
leveraging the loyalty program of global travel and tourism
industry players;
Continuing to increase the number of participating
airports, e.g., by adding the Minneapolis-Saint Paul
International airport;
Ensuring that the Global Entry kiosks are well placed
in the arrival halls of participating airports;
Utilizing the Department of Commerce posts around the
world to educate travelers about the program.
Expand the Global Entry Program to international visitors,
e.g., by:
Finalizing negotiations with the U.K., France, Germany
and Japan to allow reciprocal use of the Global Entry
Program;
Opening the Global Entry Program to holders of long-
term, non-immigrant visas such as E, L or O visas;
Integrating the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) in
the program. The ABTC allows travelers designated by
governments of the APEC region as key business leaders to
receive expedited visa interviews and to use specialized
entry lines upon arrival in APEC countries.
Finally, the Committee suggests a number of steps to accelerate
progress and follow through on these recommendations. Specifically, we
believe the following steps could be quite impactful:
Organize early in 2011 a joint meeting of President Obama
with yourself, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
Homeland Security focused on setting the goal of achieving more
than 40 million overseas visitors per year by 2015 and taking
the measures necessary to facilitate international travel to
the U.S.;
Ensure the participation of President Obama and yourself at
the World Travel and Tourism Summit to be held in Las Vegas on
May 17-19, 2011, which can provide a great platform for the
administration to send the right message to the world;
Establish a public/private partnership or working group with
the mission to drive progress in the implementation of the
above recommendations and toward the goal of achieving more
than 40 million international visitors per year by 2015:
Its members could include: representatives of the
White House, the State Department, the Department of
Homeland Security, the Department of Commerce, the
Corporation for Travel Promotion, the U.S. Travel
Association, the Air Transport Association, and a few U.S.
airlines and travel and tourism enterprises;
It would establish and track a set of key performance
indicators to monitor progress on the above mentioned
issues (Exhibit 8);
It would meet quarterly to discuss progress and
issues, and would report annually to the President and
Congress.
Mr. Secretary, we believe that the country has a unique opportunity
to create a large number of jobs and stimulate its exports by taking
these measures. We are ready to discuss these recommendations in
greater detail and to work with your staff, the State Department and
the Department of Homeland Security on next steps. We thank you for
focusing your time on these matters and giving us the opportunity to
have a positive impact.
Sincerely,
Rossi Ralenkotter,
Chairman,
Travel & Tourism Advisory Board.
Hubert Joly,
Chairman,
Travel Facilitation Subcommittee.
______
Appendix A
The U.S. has the opportunity to create up to 500,000 new jobs and
generate up to USD 60 billion in additional exports annually if it can
recapture its lost market share of overseas international travel, or,
said differently, if it can grow the number of international visitors
from overseas from 23.8 million in 2009 to 40 million in 2015.
Irrespective of the target that one would like to select, it should be
noted that each additional million international visitors from overseas
generates USD 3.2 billion in additional exports and creates 27,000 new
jobs.
International travel to the U.S. is already a major source of
exports and jobs today. In 2009, there were 23.8 million overseas
arrivals in the U.S. These overseas visitors generated USD 75 billion
in spending in the country (excluding international air travel),
representing about 700,000 jobs. In addition, international travel to
the U.S. indirectly contributes to exports, as some of these visitors
decide to acquire U.S. products and services when they visit trade
shows and/or potential suppliers.
However, the U.S. has lost a third of its market share in the last
10 years (Exhibit A-1). Compared to 25.9 million in 2000, the U.S.
would have had 34 million overseas visitors in 2009 instead of 23.8
million if it had held share, i.e., almost 50 percent more. While part
of the market share loss can be explained by competition from an
increasingly diverse set of countries, it is striking that most of the
market share loss happened in the 2001-2 timeframe, coinciding with
heightened security concerns by the U.S.
Particularly noteworthy for the future is the fact that the U.S.
performance has lost ground in the key BRIC countries that represent
the fastest growing part of the world's economy and of the
international travel market. As an example, the number of annual visits
from China to Europe is around 3 million versus 500,000 to the U.S.
Similar gaps exist for the other BRIC countries (Exhibit A-2).
This is particularly troubling as the BRIC countries in general and
Asia in particular represent a major, fast growing part of the world's
economy and of the international travel market. As a group, the GDP of
the BRIC countries is expected to represent 20 percent of the world's
GDP in 2014 versus 15 percent in 2009 and 7 percent in 1999. The
middle-class of China and India will soon reach several hundred million
individuals with a purchasing power comparable to that of the developed
countries, many of whom are and will be eager to travel
internationally. This represents a dual opportunity for the United
States: the opportunity to sell U.S. products and services to these
countries; and the opportunity to attract visitors from these countries
who are interested in visiting the United States as tourists or as
business people. It is critical that the United States does not miss
this opportunity.
Looking ahead, the value to the U.S. economy of recapturing the
lost market share of international travel from overseas is the creation
of up to 500,000 new jobs and the generation of up to USD 60 billion in
additional exports annually, as every additional million visitors from
overseas generates USD 3.2 billion in additional revenue or export and
creates 27,000 jobs (Exhibit A-3).
______
Appendix B
Challenges with visas and the experience crossing the country's
borders are important obstacles to travel to the U.S. At a time when
the country is in the process of beginning to promote travel to the
U.S. in international markets, it seems quite appropriate to address
these obstacles.
This is highlighted by various pieces of market research and
benchmark data detailed in the attached report. As an example,
according to a survey conducted by Explore America in 2006, 39 percent
of international travelers believe that the United States is the worst
country or region when it comes to being traveler-friendly in terms of
obtaining necessary documents or visas, and having immigration
officials who are respectful toward foreign visitors. This compared
with 16 percent for the Middle East, 12 percent for Africa, and 6
percent for Europe (Exhibit B-1).
While some of the issue may be perception versus reality, and while
some progress may have recently been accomplished, the U.S. does suffer
from a real performance gap as it relates to the way it treats
potential visitors. As an example, a Chinese citizen wanting to travel
to the United States needs to wait several weeks to have an appointment
for the required in-person interview. This compares to 5-12 calendar
days for a trip to a European country. This is quite an obstacle
(Exhibit B-2).
An aggravating factor is the fact that the United States has visa
processing centers in only five cities, compared to 12 for the United
Kingdom. As a result, there are 10 cities in China with more than 2
million urban inhabitants who do not have a U.S. visa processing center
(Exhibit B-3).
As it relates to Brazil, the competitive issue is even more
serious. The European Schengen countries do not require a visa for
Brazilian citizens to visit them. In contrast, a Brazilian citizen will
need to make an appointment at one of four U.S. visa processing centers
and wait several months for that appointment (wait times in Brazil have
been quite high). This means that a trip to the United States often
requires a Brazilian citizen to make two trips if he or she wants to
travel to the U.S.--one trip to a city with a visa processing center
and then the trip to the U.S. itself. This is an expensive and
cumbersome process (USD 2,600 for a family of four from Manaus needing
to go to Brasilia to get their visa).
The situation of wait times is somewhat better in India, although
quite uneven across visa processing centers. However, the number of
U.S. visa processing centers is five compared to 11 for the U.K. As a
result, there are eight cities in India with more than two million
inhabitants who do not have a U.S. visa processing center.
The experience of international visitors at the country's borders
is also a source of concern for two main reasons: the general
perception of international visitors as relates to processing time and
the way they may be treated at the border is quite mixed; in addition,
delays in passenger screening is the major cause of missed
international connections, which is a significant source of loss for
U.S. airlines. In 2009, 39 percent of overseas travelers to the U.S.
waited more than 30 minutes to be cleared through immigration at the
Nation's airports (Exhibit B-4).
In addition, wait times are quite unpredictable and peaks can be
quite extreme (Exhibit B-5).
While it would be inappropriate to assume that the visa wait time
and travel required to a visa processing center are the only drivers of
the difference in number of visitors, every element counts.
Specifically, as the global economy becomes more integrated, being able
to fly to and from the key partners of the global economy--at short
notice and efficiently--becomes increasingly important.
Attachment B
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Mr. Sprouls.
Mr. Dow.
STATEMENT OF ROGER DOW, PRESIDENT AND CEO,
U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION
Mr. Dow. Well, thank you very much, Chairman Klobuchar, and
Senator Blunt, and the esteemed members of the Subcommittee.
I'm pleased to offer testimony today on behalf of the U.S.
Travel Association, which is a non-profit association which
represents America's 790 billion travel industry. And, our
mission is simple: To increase travel to and within the United
States. Last year this industry generated $1.8 trillion in
economic output and 14 million good domestic jobs that cannot
be outsourced.
I thank you for holding this hearing today because it shows
a critical role that international travel plays in both meeting
the nation's export goals and improving our economy.
Since we're talking about competitiveness here in the
international sector, I'd like to show you a short video clip
that illustrates the steep hurdles that international visitors
face when they plan travel to the United States.
This is a short news segment that was played on national TV
in Brazil on the eve of President Obama's visit last month, and
it records the reactions of Brazilians who are attempting to
apply for a visa in the U.S. Consulate.
I think this is the reality you'd like to see.
Senator Klobuchar. Good.
Good morning, Brazil, is that the name of the show?
[Video Presentation.]
Mr. Dow. So, I think if you look at this, it shows vividly
that the U.S.'s entry process is frustrating, bureaucratic,
inefficient, and costly to the potential traveler; and this is
no way to present our country to friendly visitors from
outside. And, as you pointed out, other countries are taking
big advantage of this.
To quickly boost U.S. exports, accelerate U.S. economic
growth, and create new American jobs that can't be outsourced,
we have to address self-imposed barriers, and it would not
reduce security, and would not cost the taxpayers a dime, as
Mr. Cloobeck has mentioned.
If America were to reclaim our historic share, as you've
said, of overseas travelers by 2015 and maintain that share for
5 years, that adds $100 billion to the U.S. economy during the
next decade and creates 700,000 needed new American jobs.
Travel is already America's largest export industry. Its
$134 billion in exports in 2010 created a $32 billion trade
surplus. If you look at this chart that we have over here, that
large, purplish line, is basically a million jobs coming from
the travel sector. The other shorter lines are from
transportation equipment, like Boeing planes; machinery, like
Caterpillar Tractors, 300,000 jobs each; or electronics,
300,000 jobs. So, you see, this is equal to all those added
together.
And, we're outperforming America's top manufacturing
industries, and is this a very labor-intensive industry. So,
you basically have $110,000 spent by a traveler equating to a
single job created.
So, we've got to put an end to these barriers that are
going on; and one of the ways to solve that is quickly through
increased promotion, which has been talked about; another would
be to improve this inefficient process that we have. If a
traveler can't predict what's going to happen, then they can't
plan their trip; and these 100-day delays that Mr. Sprouls was
talking about don't allow for planning.
If you look at what's going on with the competition, I want
to address a couple of things that were said: One, Mr. Ensign
asked, is there an example of what visa reforms did? Yes. South
Korea in 2009 and 2010 when they got visa waiver status
increased 49 percent, while the rest of the world was almost
flat, or decreased. And, that was over a 38 percent increase
over the year before. So, this would be a huge increase.
I'd also like to address video conferencing. It was said
that video conferencing isn't efficient. I was told by the
State Department that once a farmer had calluses on his hand;
he said he was a farmer but he didn't have calluses on his
hand. They spotted it. The next day I sent a picture to the New
York Times of a physician in New York City examining an eyeball
of someone in Los Angeles.
The State Department's own testimony has said that this
works, and does not take away efficiency. And, that was said in
2009.
And, last, we're willing to put up with this frustration
that people experience, and that's a shame, because while
Brazil did increase travel to the U.S., Brazil's travel to
Western Europe, has increased 225 percent during the same time.
So, the bottom line is that we can't be satisfied with,
well, it is okay to make travelers a little uncomfortable
because numbers are going up. We've got to address this, and I
implore this group to make this a high priority.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Dow follows:]
Prepared Statement of Roger Dow, President and CEO,
U.S. Travel Association
Introduction
Chairman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt and members of the
Subcommittee: I am pleased to offer testimony on behalf of the U.S.
Travel Association (U.S. Travel), the national, non-profit organization
representing all sectors of America's travel industry. U.S. Travel's
mission is to increase travel to and within the United States. Last
year the $759 billion travel industry generated a total of $1.8
trillion in total economic output.
I applaud you for holding today's hearing to discuss the critical
role that international travel plays in meeting the nation's export
goals and improving the U.S. economy. I would also like to thank you
for the strong bipartisan leadership you have demonstrated on travel
issues during your time here in Washington.
The Economic Opportunities of Travel
Travel provides good, domestic jobs that cannot be outsourced. In
2010, travel supported 14.1 million jobs and is among the top 10
employers in 48 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For example,
travel directly employs more than 140,000 Minnesotans, contributes $11
billion annually to the Minnesota economy and generates more than $3
billion in state and local tax revenues in Minnesota. Similarly, travel
directly employs more than 125,000 Missourians, contributes more than
$12 billion to the Missouri economy and generates nearly $2 billion in
tax receipts in Missouri. In every state and county across America,
travel helps pay the salaries of police, firefighters and teachers
without creating much new demand for those public services.
I am here today to tell you that increasing travel to the United
States is the most effective form of economic stimulus--and it doesn't
cost taxpayers a dime. International travel is the export sector that
is easiest to boost. When visitors travel to the United States from
abroad, they inject new money into the U.S. economy by staying in U.S.
hotels, spending in U.S. stores, visiting U.S. attractions and eating
at U.S. restaurants--purchases that are all chalked up as U.S. exports
that contribute positively to America's trade balance.
Larry Summers, the former director of the National Economic
Council, recently observed that ``the easiest way to increase exports
and close the trade gap is by increasing international travel to the
United States.''
Our own analysis shows that if the U.S. recaptured its historic
share of worldwide overseas--or long-haul--travel by 2015 and
maintained that share through 2020, it would add nearly $100 billion to
the economy over the next decade and create nearly 700,000 more U.S.
jobs. Increasing America's share of worldwide long-haul travel is a no-
brainer and, with the right policies, should be relatively easy to do.
International travel is already America's largest export,
representing 8.7 percent of U.S. exports of goods and services in 2010
and nearly one-fourth of services exports alone. The travel industry's
$134.4 billion in exports contributed more than any other industry to
America's $1.8 trillion worth of total goods and services exports. And
in a time of yawning national trade deficits, the travel sector enjoys
an overall trade surplus: $31.7 billion in 2010.
Increasing travel exports is more than just a sound economic goal,
American livelihoods depend on it. Last year, every $110,000 of
overseas visitor spending in the United States supported one new U.S.
job. Thus, for every 37 new visitors spending on average $3,000, one
new job is created. In comparison, every one million dollars spent on
manufacturing goods supported less than three jobs last year.
Therefore, compared to each of the top five export-related
manufacturing industries, the travel industry delivered significantly
more jobs (see Appendix A).
Unlike other goods and services, the barriers to travel are
primarily self-imposed. There are no trade agreements to be negotiated
or tariffs to reduce with other countries. The principle barriers to
increased travel to the United States are the inefficiencies,
uncertainties and delays that characterize our visa and entry process
and that discourage foreign tourists and business travelers from
visiting the United States.
If this country is serious about achieving the national goal of
doubling exports within 5 years, Congress and the Administration have
to show America welcomes legitimate international visitors by reducing
barriers to their entry. The stakes are enormous. The 10 years from
2001 through 2010 were a lost decade for America's travel industry and
the U.S. economy. While global international travel grew over the last
decade, America failed to keep pace. The opportunity costs of this
slippage are staggering. If America had kept pace with the growth in
global long-haul international travel between 2000 and 2010, 78 million
more travelers would have visited the United States, adding $606
billion to the U.S. economy and supporting more than 467,000 additional
U.S. jobs.
It is unconscionable that in a time of weak economic growth,
followed by deep recession, government neglect of this booming export
sector caused America to leave so much economic prosperity on the
table. We cannot afford to make the same mistake in this current
decade. As described below, these lost opportunities are not a tradeoff
with security--we can have robust, growing and secure travel.
On a worldwide basis, total international tourist arrivals are
projected to grow 36 percent between 2010 and 2020, resulting in $2.2
trillion in direct travel spending and 62 million jobs. Over the same
period, international travel revenue as a share of global GDP is
forecast to increase by 10 percent.
The most lucrative segment of international travel is overseas
travel because they stay longer and spend more money. Each overseas
visitor to the United States spends an average of $3,000 at hotels,
restaurants, retail and other U.S. businesses--and that doesn't even
count the value of goods purchased and deals done while here. It is
time for America to compete in a serious way for these valuable
international traveler dollars.
Increasing secure travel to the United States also is an integral
part of a successful foreign policy. As noted by a federal advisory
committee to the Departments of Homeland Security and State in 2008:
Our long-term success requires not only that we deter and
detect determined adversaries, but also that we persuade
millions of people around the globe of our ideals--democratic
freedom, private enterprise, human rights, intellectual
pursuit, technological achievement. That persuasion requires
human interaction, and each visitor to the United States
represents such an opportunity. Raw statistics are important in
analyzing our achievements and challenges, but so are the
attitudes we display. Treating prospective and actual visitors
with dignity and respect will reinforce, not diminish, our
security.
Our efforts must include three key elements: first, overseas
promotion of America as a premier travel destination; second a
reduction in visa barriers to inbound international visitation, which
includes expansion of the Visa Waiver Program to new allies; and third,
a streamlined and more welcoming customs clearance process at major
U.S. ports of entry for our international guests. I will discuss each
element in turn.
International Travel Promotion
This committee, including Senator Klobuchar, and the House Energy
and Commerce Committee, including then-Representative Blunt, led the
effort last year to pass the Travel Promotion Act and create a public-
private partnership to explain U.S. travel and security policies and
welcome more visitors to the United States. Oxford Economics estimates
that the travel promotion program authorized by the Act could attract
as many as 1.6 million new visitors each year generate as much as $4
billion in new visitor spending annually and create 40,000 new U.S.
jobs. Facing a global competitive disadvantage, Congress showed a will
to act, and America will reap the rewards for years to come. We are
confident that travel promotion will be a success and will help attract
more international visitors to the United States.
The Visa System
The single greatest roadblock to increased overseas visitation is
an inefficient visa system that can discourage travelers from
considering the United States as a preferred destination. Promoting
America as a desirable travel destination and streamlining the
immigration clearance process will not lead to increased visitation if
travelers are unable to obtain a required U.S. visitor's visa.
Look at the situation from a leisure or business traveler's point
of view. In some countries, the wait time for U.S. visas can be as long
as 100 days. The $140 visa application fee is non-refundable and, of
course, applying for a visa is no guarantee that a visa will be issued
with nearly 20 percent of applicants being refused. The real cost of
obtaining a U.S. visa is far greater, particularly when potential
visitors do not live near a consular post issuing visas and therefore
must travel hundreds if not thousands of miles and pay for a flight and
hotel to make a mandatory trip to a U.S. consulate, and then wait hours
for an interview that, on average, lasts for 3 minutes.
Another disturbing aspect of the visa process is the lack of
transparency, even in the way that visa interview dates are issued.
Recent interviews with tour operators in China and India confirm what
the GAO discovered in 2007: that some consulates artificially limit the
availability of interview dates to cutoff the queue and mask the
backlog--making it next-to-impossible for people to assess how long
they will have to wait before they can actually travel to the United
States. This lack of accurate information has obvious ramifications for
all kinds of travelers: How can you schedule a business trip or
vacation if you do not know how long it will take for your visa to come
through? Our research suggests that there is no predicting how long the
visa application process will take--and there is no getting your money
back if you fail.
U.S. Travel and the entire travel community understand that issuing
visas is a complex and sensitive process, but there are many
opportunities to increase efficiency without compromising security. On
multiple occasions over the past decade, the U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Department of State Office of
Inspector General (OIG), and federal advisory committees and non-
partisan think tanks have noted that the Department of State does not
have a long-term strategy for managing visa operations, and have
recommended initiatives to improve efficiency and reduce interview wait
times. While the Department of State has made progress on some fronts,
its efforts to date seem to be band-aids rather than permanent
solutions, and many long-standing recommendations have yet to be
implemented.
Congress and the Administration have an opportunity to take the
lead and accelerate reform by focusing on improving the visa system's
efficiency and productivity while maintaining strict security
standards. Needed reforms include:
Improved applicant processing. Reassigning existing consular
officers to, or hiring temporary commissioned consular officers
for, the consulates with the heaviest visa demand, such as
consulates in Brazil, China and India.
Greater access to U.S. Consulates. Piloting the use of
secure videoconferencing technology to conduct visa interviews
remotely.
Increased efficiency. Negotiating longer visa terms with
China. Currently, the U.S. and China only provide each other
one-year visa terms. In contrast, the United States has 10-year
visa terms with Brazil and India. This change would reduce the
visa workload of U.S. consulates in China, which would allow
them to process U.S. visas more efficiently. This change will
not cost any new tax dollars nor reduce U.S. security, yet it
would have a significant economic benefit.
In addition, the Executive Branch should increase its efforts to
expand the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) to qualified countries. The VWP
offers significant security benefits to the United States by requiring
participating countries to meet stringent criteria related to law
enforcement cooperation, information-sharing agreements, travel
document standards, and in-country inspection. As Marc Frey, the former
director of the VWP Program at DHS wrote recently, ``the security value
of conducting a visa interview with every one of millions of travelers
is vastly outweighed by the security benefits of the Visa Waiver
Program that pinpoints data about who poses a threat, provides
documents that are harder to forge, enhances foreign security
standards, and allows routine auditing of those standards by the U.S.
Government.''
Brazil is currently one of the most obvious candidates for
potential inclusion in the program. While Brazil does not currently
qualify for visa-free travel status, it is likely that Brazil could
meet the requirements in the foreseeable future. Establishing a ``road
map'' process for countries to improve their security posture for
eventual evaluation for the VWP can provide a useful structure for
countries to be considered.
Institute formal VWP working groups. Therefore, we urge that
Congress press the State Department to form a formal working
group with Brazil and other potential candidates that will
outline specific actions that each country could begin to take
today to meet the visa waiver requirements. Through this
working group progress in meeting the program's qualifications
can then be measured and evaluated.
Enact The Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership
Program Act of 2011. We also urge the Committee to support
bipartisan legislation recently introduced by Senators Barbara
Mikulski and Mark Kirk (S. 497) that updates the VWP framework
to reflect improved capabilities to track travelers entering
and exiting the United States and improves annual reporting to
increase oversight and transparency of the program.
All of these reforms can be implemented quickly and at little or no
cost. The payoff in increased visitation, new tax revenues, U.S. jobs
and economic growth would be substantial.
America's greatest opportunity to increase travel exports lie with
the rapidly growing economies of Brazil, China and India. These three
countries have burgeoning middle-class populations that are spending
billions on overseas travel, and they represent the lion's share of the
projected future growth in international travel. Having grown more than
140 percent from 2000 to 2010, global long-haul outbound travel from
Brazil, India and China shows no signs of slowing and is projected to
more than double in the next 10 years, growing by an estimated 107
percent.
U.S. Travel is currently working to complete a comprehensive report
on the U.S. visa process for visitors from Brazil, China and India and
offer more details on these and other recommendations for a 10-year
strategy to increase U.S. travel exports. We expect to issue the report
in May and hope to work with this Committee and other committee in
Congress to enact the report's recommendations.
Immigration Processing upon Arrival into the United States
Over the last decade, as recommended by the 9/11 Commission, the
U.S. Government has rightly built additional layers of security into
America's border entry process. However, the way some of these policies
are implemented has had the unintended effect of alienating some
international travelers. Overseas visitors complain about hour long
waits at the inspection areas at airports and of unfriendly treatment
by inspection officials.
This negative perception of the U.S. entry process was on full
display in 2009 when President Obama traveled to Copenhagen to help
promote Chicago's bid for the Olympic Games. An International Olympic
Committee (IOC) member from Pakistan, in the question-and-answer
session following Chicago's official presentation, pointed out to the
President that entering the United States can be ``a rather harrowing
experience.''
When IOC members are expressing concern to our President about the
kind of welcome international visitors would get from airport officials
when they arrive in this country to attend the Olympic Games, we need
to take seriously the challenge of reforming our entry process to make
sure we are welcoming our friends around the world, even as we ensure a
secure system.
Since 2006, our industry has partnered with the Department of
Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency
offering strategic advice from private-sector experts on how to provide
improved customer service and increased efficiency in traveler
facilitation. CBP has implemented some recommendations quite
effectively, such as the adoption of a welcome video--produced by
Disney--that is now played at all major international U.S. airports,
and the creation of the Global Entry Program to fast-track previously
vetted Americans and select international visitors returning from
international trips. We intend to continue our partnership with CBP to
ensure additional progress is made to the entry process in key areas
such as:
Passenger screening throughput.
Direct that 150 of the 300 CBP officers in the
President's Fiscal Year 2012 budget request be assigned to
the top 20 international U.S. airports.
Establish a passenger wait time goal of 20 minutes per
individual and use it as a performance measure to help CBP
assess whether staffing levels are sufficient to address
passenger volume and develop a more accurate method for
collecting passenger wait time information for travelers.
Implementation of a customer service improvement strategy.
Develop comprehensive CBP customer service reports and
include them in the Air Travel Consumer Report issued by
Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation
Enforcement and Proceedings (OAEP).
Work with the private sector to review existing
customer service training and provide new training
recommendations.
Establish metrics to measure the customer service
performance of CBP air ports of entry, and provide rewards
to ports that demonstrate exceptional performance.
Direct CBP Officers to greet passengers arriving at
primary inspections with ``Welcome to the United States''
or ``Welcome home.''
Transparency and Oversight. Issue quarterly reports to
Congress on the Model Ports of Entry Program that includes
specific actions taken by CBP at each of the 20 participating
airports and includes metrics used by CBP to measure progress.
In addition, U.S. Travel released a report last month that presents
a comprehensive review of aviation security conducted by a blue ribbon
panel of experts representing all essential stakeholders that--for the
very first time--takes account of the traveler's point of view. That
report examines the problems that add to the ``hassle factor'' of air
travel within the United States and lays out a comprehensive checklist
of recommendations for Congress on aviation security reform that will
maintain security while making the system more efficient. Several of
the recommendations are aimed at smoothing the process for
international visitors arriving in the U.S., especially those who need
to connect to additional flights within the U.S. including:
Reduce Duplicative TSA Screening for International Arrivals.
DHS should enable certain low-risk passengers who are traveling
to another domestic airport to forego checked baggage and
passenger screening upon landing in the U.S.
Expand trusted traveler programs to qualified international
passengers. DHS should expand access to international trusted
traveler programs for international passengers entering the
U.S., as well as lead efforts to establish a multinational
network of streamlined entry procedures for low-risk travelers.
Eliminate duplication between TSA and Customs and Border
Protection (CBP). DHS should streamline its operations at U.S.
international airports to reduce unnecessary duplication and
leverages CBP and TSA resources, authorities, and capabilities.
Push for international cooperation with U.S. security
standards. The federal government must continue to push for
international cooperation in the development of international
aviation security, including both bilateral and multilateral
approaches, as well as with organizations such as the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), to strengthen
aviation security efforts while promoting travel and protecting
travelers' rights.
Conclusion
In summary, we believe that travel exports offer the best
opportunity to boost U.S. exports over the next 5 years. We also
believe that increased travel offers the best, lowest cost, most
efficient means of boosting U.S. economic growth and creating new U.S.
jobs. The economic data on travel supports our conclusions.
We look forward to working with the members of this Subcommittee to
ensure that America is harnessing the power of travel to create
economic opportunity, accelerated growth and job creation.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. I would
be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Appendix A
Senator Klobuchar. Very, very good. That was a good
response.
Senator Blunt, do you want to go first?
Senator Blunt. Well, thank you, Chairman, and thank the
four of you for being here; and Mr. Cloobeck, particularly,
good luck with this effort you're starting. Very seldom do you
have an opportunity to start something like this, and I'm glad
to see you and your board engaging in this.
What you will be able to do with travel promotion, with
marketing later in the year, I know you said you'd like to be
doing that quicker, but where are you on your plans on how
you're going to allocate funds? Are you going to have some
kinds of partnerships; will you be able to develop; and what
are some of the guidelines for those partnerships, where, I
assume you anticipate you would have private sector dollars
working along with these public sector dollars that you're
going to be allocated?
Mr. Cloobeck. That's correct, Senator. The first $10
million that we're looking for is in cash. If you look at the
statute, we have to raise $10 million in cash first; and
hopefully, we'll raise another $40 million in-kind for our
double-match year one, starting fiscal 12, which starts in
October.
We always--we have tremendous support with--and with
working with USTA and the stakeholders and Tourism and Travel.
We anticipate receiving tens of millions of dollars of in-kind
dollars.
With regard to working with the Canadian Tourism
Corporation, working with the state of California, working with
New York, and Florida, finding the best ways of collecting
research, not reproducing it, we believe the Commerce
Department's numbers are just fine. And, the government pays a
lot of money for that; so we're using those.
And, you know, we believe that we're off to a fast start.
What we're concerned about is, yes, we can spend those dollars
in visa-waiver countries, but when we sit with the President's
Export Council, and we sit with USTA and other stakeholders,
we're finding that there are certain folks in Washington,
bluntly, Senator, that don't want to say yes. They're afraid of
that word.
In business we have to take risks; and if we want to grow
GNP jobs through tourism and travel, we're going to have to
take a little bit of risk. We're going to have to open up our
borders and show people this great country that we have.
We don't have to spend any money to do it, other than the
marketing dollars that we have putting forth through the ESTA
fees.
Senator Blunt. Let me be just as blunt here--maybe even
more so----
Mr. Cloobeck. Please.
Senator Blunt.--since I start out the day pretty blunt.
[Laughter.]
Senator Blunt. I think that's good--what you're talking
about is good--a good thing for your board to understand, but
there are a lot of places in the world where people can come
without visa obstacles, and if I was you, I'd be very focused
on that. I think you hear the other panel members and the
people up here concerned as you are about what we do to make
the visa process work better.
There are plenty of people that can come from other
countries, though, and--my sense would be--your focus is trying
to do what you can to get travelers to come where travelers are
going to be coming from; and I know you're going to do that.
I just don't want you to get so frustrated in this other
element that we don't take full advantage of this great
opportunity. And, I know you will, but we want to be looking
for how we market, you know, Mr. Dow and I spend a lot of time
over the course of about 4 years talking about how other
countries market in our country, to encourage Americans to
travel there, and we didn't have any similar program going on.
And, so, this is a great opportunity. I know you're absolutely
capable of being the best Chairman that we can possibly have
for this effort, and I look forward to that.
I imagine there are people here from the agencies of the
three former--the three other panelists. They all left before
they heard your testimony, but we'll see that they have
attention drawn to the things you've drawn attention to.
And, Mr. Dow, in terms of the kind of marketing, what do
you hear from your members that they'd like to see this new
agency do; and how do they partner up with that?
Mr. Dow. Well, first of all, Mr. Blunt, I appreciate your
approving the Travel Promotion Act three times, and you were
threatening to also vote for it when you got to the Senate. So,
thank you, but you didn't have to.
Senator Blunt. I thought it would be the Blunt Bill in the
House and the Blunt Bill in the Senate, but we got that taken
care of, with----
Mr. Dow. Mr. Sprouls is here and represents attractions in
Florida and et cetera, and people tend to come to Florida, New
York, Las Vegas, California, et cetera, and, I think the big
opportunity here at this office is to level the playing field
for areas like Missouri, Minnesota, and Alaska to get that
second or third experience because one thing we have are
options while many countries are one-trick ponies.
Senator Blunt. Right.
Mr. Dow. What we have is what people look for in authentic
travel. So, I think what this is going to do, it's going to
push those trips out and level the playing field for a lot of
the secondary locations that don't have the dollars themselves.
Senator Blunt. More days stayed, more places visited.
Mr. Dow. You got it.
Senator Blunt. Thank you, Chairman.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Senator Ensign?
Senator Ensign. Well, thank you.
I have a big concern, and Steve, I want to welcome, by the
way, and I'm proud of the job that you're doing with your
board.
But, when we saw something like the video that Mr. Dow
showed, when you spend your marketing dollars, and then they
have those kind of things happen in those countries, that
blunts the good will that you can, sometimes--you know, people
can remember a bad story a lot more than they do a good story.
And, I'm very concerned about that there is this perception out
there. It's one of the reasons we wanted the Travel Promotion
Act in the first place, was to try to overcome some of the
perceptions. But, some of those perceptions are actually
reality, as we've seen with the wait times; and I guess if
you're out there promoting, do you fear that the wait times
will just get worse if the bureaucracy doesn't get out of the
way?
Mr. Cloobeck. Well, therein lies, you know, a conundrum of
business. If we create tremendous demand, can we keep up? And,
we are concerned that there is a, you know, a philosophy within
State; and if we were to handle that in business, we would go
hire 500 or 1,000 more people; whereas the State Department
said, ``well, we're hiring 120.''
And, candidly, we wouldn't operate that way in business.
And, it is a very big concern that we have, because we are
going to create marketing messages and promote this country,
Brand U.S.A. for the first time, and do so in a way to dispel
those messages. We're going to educate folks in other countries
on how wonderful our land is, and how easy that process is; and
you will be greeted nicely when you show up. But, we--we can't
have videos like that like as USTA has presented today.
Senator Ensign. Well--go ahead.
Ms. Johnson. Senator Ensign, if I could interject here, on
that, the presentation that was made to Secretary Locke--and I
want to submit this for the record--it states that the metrics
have to be obtained, and we have to establish goals.
To your point, we need an end and we need to fix the
process, measure and establish goals for improvement and
market. And, then, you know, it has to all be done
simultaneously in a rather urgent fashion, to be able to gain
the economic growth that we're looking for.
Mr. Cloobeck. I can tell you this, Senators, that I have
visited the ports with Customs and Borders. I have personally
been there. I have looked at the Trusted Traveler Program,
which is fantastic, but we're market--not even marketing that
well enough for the United States yet; and hopefully Customs
and Borders will do a good job.
But, they are working hard, and the Department of Homeland
Security is extremely open-armed with regard to their
hospitality sector, helping them come in and script and train.
So, it's not like the government, you know--I don't want to
keep bashing people, because we keep hearing that. But,
Homeland Security is really trying hard. Customs and Borders is
trying hard. We have a problem in the United States of the
entry process. It starts when you make a reservation for a
hotel, you've got to be sweet because that's when the vacation
starts.
Senator Ensign. Yes, I just want to make a couple of
comments on that: We know that this is a very difficult time,
post-911. We all understand that. I think that everybody does;
and they have a delicate balance, balancing security with, you
know, getting tourists into the country. But, we also know what
works. And, you mentioned, if this was the private sector, you
would hire 500 to 1,000 new people. One is, it doesn't cost any
money to do that, although the logistics of some of that with
some of the space may come play, as was mentioned today, but
still, that should be overcome.
Because we hear a lot about outsourcing of jobs; you know,
manufacturing. We outsource jobs. Well, you can't outsource
tourism jobs. In other words, our jobs are here, unless you
don't get the tourists to come here; thereby you outsource the
jobs to other countries, which is exactly what we're doing, by
losing market share.
We can in-source those jobs very easily by not a heck of a
lot of dollars spent, $20 earned; I mean, that's a pretty good
investment on anybody's balance sheet; and we need to recognize
that. I think that's one of the reasons this hearing was very
important, is to bring these kinds of issues to the forefront
so that the folks who are in the government understand what's
at stake here; how much economic prosperity can be gained by
all of this.
So, I think this hearing is very important going forward.
Mr. Cloobeck. Thank you, Senator. And, we've known each
other for a long time, and I've known others on this great
committee. You know that I don't take no for an answer, and I'm
not exactly, you know, the guy with kid gloves. I'm a bull in a
china shop. So, I'm going to continue to do that in a very
polite and delicate way, to push this forward, because we've
got a lot of money to market this great land with.
Other countries are doing the same thing against us, and
this is--this is a non-brainer for GDP and jobs for this.
Senator Ensign. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Senator Bennet? Senator Begich.
Senator Begich. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm listening to
this discussion, and I think we're all on the same path in
wanting to increase the volume. I mean, when you mentioned the
South Korea visa issue and how quickly tourism went up, I know
Alaska--15 percent of our market is international travelers,
and that's a huge number for us; and as everyone knows, they
stay longer and spend more. And, we like that. And, they come
back. They're repeat customers.
And, so, I guess the frustration I have is, I'm trying to
figure out--you're going to increase supply, which I am 100
percent for; but what I just heard the panel before is a slow
process to make sure that supply comes through the gates.
And if a customer--it's like a restaurant--you know, when
they come once and they don't like the soup--the service the
first time, they're not coming back. Or, they'll take a longer
time to come back.
So, I'm struggling with what's the trigger here to pull. I
know, Steve, I'm not worried about you and what you'll do to
get some of those guys focused in the bureaucracy, but maybe
what really should happen here--and I don't want to add burden
to the Chair and the Ranking Member, but maybe we have to say,
from this committee's standpoint, we want those interagency
people to sit down with you in a time certain, to develop what
strategies will be.
For example, when I heard that they were going to have some
temporary folks hired and they actually have a schedule, and--I
don't know if you've seen that schedule, any of you, because
that will determine how you market, I'm assuming. What I see
here is a lack of coordinated plan by the agencies with you
folks who are about to fill the lineup, which I'm excited
about.
So, maybe we have to say, look, if the agencies that are
here--and I'm kind of looking through you, Steve, to write to
Helen there, because she's one of the agency people still
here--and I don't know who else is here from the agencies, but
to get you in a room and say, OK, they have these plans, these
programs, how do we integrate that with the supply to
marketing, which I'm all for. I mean, the more money you put
into marketing, the better off we're going to be down the road.
But, when you plow that money in, the system's going to
feel the pinch, and I--I have your sense, and many of you that
testified--that the system is not ready to accept this full
load that's about through.
Thank you.
Mr. Cloobeck. Senator, if you could ask the Secretary of
State to have this as a high priority, we would really
appreciate that.
Senator Begich. Well, we need it from both, the Secretary
of State----
Mr. Cloobeck. In Congress we have terrific support from
Congress.
Senator Begich. Good.
Mr. Cloobeck. We have terrific support from Homeland
Security.
Senator Begich. OK.
Mr. Cloobeck. I don't think--you know, we have other things
going on in the world that the Secretary of State has to deal
with right now, but we really need the attention at the highest
levels, or attention to be brought to the folks within that
department to visit with us. We welcome that.
Senator Begich. Excellent.
Mr. Dow?
Mr. Dow. Yes. We've been working just as hard as you work
on putting the travel promotion together. There's a 2.0 plan of
a blueprint of what could be done quickly and with little or no
cost to taxpayers, and that will be coming out in May. And,
we'll get that right to you as it comes out.
But, it is detailed, step-by-step-by-step of things that
you can do that are no-brainers. And if you could encourage
that kind of dialogue, it would really be terrific and add a
lot.
Senator Begich. Are you going to present that plan to State
Department, Commerce, also?
Mr. Dow. Yes.
Senator Begich. OK.
Mr. Dow. We'll submit it to them; we'll submit it to our
Congressional leaders and Senators.
The other thing is, you have to look beyond just the
economics. When President Obama went over to speak on behalf of
the Olympics, the very first question he was asked was: Mr.
President, why should anyone come to your country to see the
Olympics when getting into the country's a fairly harrowing--
exact words--experience? And, we lost the Olympics.
And, we also lost the Pan Am Games. And when people come
here, they're 74 percent more likely to feel very good about
America and American policy. This is our own public diplomacy.
Senator Begich. Yes, it's a great foreign affairs policy,
you're absolutely right. There's no question about it, and it's
not only from people that own the businesses, but the minute
they walk out the door into a hotel or restaurant that--that
person at the front is a powerful, you know, foreign affairs
person in a lot of ways. So, I guess my--knowing that you're
having this plan, I'm just trying to figure out the lever point
here. But, if you have a plan, I think maybe what we have to do
is then turn to the agencies and say, OK, how do you integrate
what you're doing with what you think can be done, and move
forward?
Because otherwise, I see two paths happening, and it makes
me very nervous because the government path is always slow to
respond, but in this case, the way you said it, Steve, is, we
got to make some decisions. And, yes, there may be a little
risk, and we might not be as successful in some areas but, hey,
that's the way it works. But, if we go by our history--and I
use again, Korea as an example, we know, if done right,
everything goes the right direction, and we have some bumps in
the way.
So, I--I just encourage maybe from a committee standpoint,
when you finish that, submit it to the Chairwoman and Ranking
Member will be helpful, and then maybe we have to take a role
of saying to the agencies, now, give us your response and your
timetable; because as you noticed in the last panel--and no
disrespect to them--what I learned about government officials
when they testify, they always use certain phrases: Soon,
possible, we're working on it, we have some ideas, we're
thinking about it; never a timetable until it's too late. And,
so that's why I was very aggressive on holding them to a
schedule. So, if you have this plan, I think from our end I
think it would be a great opportunity----
Mr. Dow. We'll see that you get it first and I can offer
the encouragement and share one together.
You asked a question, and I'll answer it for you: What
happens when the government shuts down? Regarding 1996, there's
a CRS report that said that shutdown cost 20,000 to 30,000 visa
applications. So, at $4,000 a pop, you're talking some serious
money.
Senator Ensign. Real money.
Mr. Cloobeck. And, Senator Blunt, if I could just answer
one question you asked before: We're collecting about $350,000
a day, and we don't know what's going to happen in May, June,
July peak periods, but that's a sizable amount of money that
we'll have to market with.
Senator Klobuchar. OK. Very good.
Well, Mr. Dow, I wanted to follow up. Thank you very much.
Thank you for giving us that report immediately. As you know,
we've been pushing. We've gotten clearly more focused on this
in terms of processing these visas, but nowhere where we need
to go; and when you look at ten people--and I think Mr.
Cloobeck's point was a good one of how many we really need and
the fact that it won't cost us taxpayer money; that we can make
it off the visa applications.
If you had to pick one or two things you think would be the
most important thing to move forward on right now to increase
tourism and add jobs to America of your blueprint, what would
it be?
Mr. Dow. I think some of the most important things would be
greatly increasing those facilities, putting targets in place,
knowing the measurements of what it would cost----
Senator Klobuchar. Talking about the visa processing?
Mr. Dow. That's for the visa processing, yes.
Also, when it was asked about video conferencing, you can
put people in Kansas and Missouri, and they can speak Mandarin
and be looking at this person interviewing. You could rapidly
increase capability just like that, and not have the hassle and
the hurdle of getting someone in-country and all the cost and
housing.
Senator Klobuchar. Exactly.
Mr. Dow. So that would be very important. The ability to,
as Mr. Cloobeck said, to get reciprocity, to take the first
step forward.
What we're doing with China, although there are some issues
that Homeland Security has, but the main issue is that China
won't blink and we won't blink on a 1-year visa; and someone
ought to step forward and say, OK, we're going to do a 3-year
visa.
That is 30 percent of the capacity right there in China, is
their----
Senator Klobuchar. That 3-year visa.
Mr. Dow. Yes.
Senator Klobuchar. OK, and the video conferencing, is that
done by other countries?
Mr. Dow. I'll have to get back to you on that. I think
they've been trying it in Australia and a couple places, but
let me get back with a specific answer.
Senator Klobuchar. OK. All right, very good.
Mr. Sprouls, the same question. What do you think should be
our top priorities?
Mr. Sprouls. Well, I think clearly, adding a lot more of
the--excuse me--adding significantly greater amounts of people
in the consular offices to work in the backlog.
The idea of video conferencing, and being able to put
people in Kansas or somewhere else, also gives us the advantage
that you could shift those people very, very quickly so that we
could manage the seasonality of it.
I think another part, which may require a bit of a
legislative solution is, there are groups of people--and we've
had conversations with the State Department--that are very low
risk; for example, Chinese students returning for another year,
because of the way we're dealing with them currently, have to
get a visa again; have to go stand in line again.
Brazilian children, under the age of 15, have to travel
with their parents to go for the visa interview as opposed to
just the parents receiving a visa interview, and being able to
manage them through documentation. We could take some people
out of the line, which would help to reduce the backlog as
well, if we could give the State Department some discretion in
terms of identifying specific groups of people where the
interview isn't mandatory.
Senator Klobuchar. OK. Ms. Johnson?
Ms. Johnson. Well, I would agree with what has been said. I
believe that the video conferencing is a solution for the
future. I think it is something that we--we should be trying
and looking at in allowing us to keep the jobs in the United
States, if you will.
And also, I think that the measurement of the metrics being
unified across the government agencies so that we collect the
wait times, so that we know where we are----
Senator Klobuchar. You want to expand a little bit on that?
I know you mentioned it.
Ms. Johnson. Yes. We, in collecting the data for the report
that we made to Secretary Locke, we were getting mixed
information from different agencies, and no one agency could
really give us true facts on wait times to get through the port
of entry visa process--immigration process. And it was, you
know, Homeland Security had some numbers, Congress was great
with their numbers, but they weren't all the same.
So, what we recommended is that we would establish key
metrics across, you know, State, Homeland Security, and
Commerce and say, OK, these are the metrics that we're going to
collect; and then we are going to set a goal, you know, 20
minutes to get through. That's the goal. And so the average
time would be 20 minutes.
You establish a goal, and everybody works to that goal, and
has the same understanding; and you know, you can't manage what
you can't measure, and if you want to improve it, you need to
know what you're doing.
So it is just a simple logic of being able to collect the
data and the numbers to really improve the processes.
Senator Klobuchar. OK. Mr. Cloobeck, last question.
Mr. Cloobeck. Senator, let's take a little risk. Let's
market Brand U.S.A., and let's do it in a way that shows what
great American hospitality's all about. We have a great land
here. We can't let the CEO of Emirates Airlines, who's coming
in to buy tens and tens of Boeing business jets, wait weeks for
a visa.
We know what the issues are. We've got a lot of marketing
dollars to go forward and spend in visa waiver countries and
we're going to do a great job of it. And we're going to
increase GDP and jobs, but I ask you again, let's take a little
bit of a risk.
Senator Klobuchar. OK, very good. Well, I wanted to thank
all of you; and I kept this chart up here for a reason, to
point out even though we've had some increases in tourism,
which we want, the issue for us is how we get an even bigger
increase, and how we recapture some of that market share that
we had before.
Just the example used, the one example of a business person
trying to get over to buy things, I recently learned that
international patients planning to receive medical care at the
Mayo Clinic in Minnesota had to cancel their plans because of
delays in processing visas.
So, this is a big deal in our country, and I believe that
we have the wherewithal to change it.
As we approach this, number one, we'll be getting that
Promotion Act implemented, which I know you and your board, are
working on. I understand that October is the first time under
the law that you can start advertising, that's correct, so we'd
love to have it sooner, but the way Washington works right now,
I don't know if we could open that up, but we could certainly
look at that. But, the hope would be we would get the
advertising going on in October; and then second, the model
ports of entry, expanding on some of these pilots and other
things that we've been working on I think will be key.
The visa backlog, for me, is my personal interest, because
I think either it is adding those numbers--it just makes no
sense to me that we can't add those. We have people that want
jobs. We have a way to support this, which won't be taxpayer
money; and this should be our major push with the State
Department.
And, guess what? It sounds like we can do it without
Congress having to do everything except call attention to it,
which we're pretty good at doing.
And so, that's why I like seizing on that, as well as
trying to get that video conferencing going as we tried for so
long to do.
The Visa Waiver Program, another thing we can push on to
try to add or countries to that, and get that going.
So, I just want to thank all of you. These are jobs for our
country. It is a way I like that point that this is an issue
and an area where you have such labor-intensive jobs compared
to some of these great high tech things that I adore, and are
great in my state and one of our biggest economic drivers.
I know that as we become more and more advanced that the
jobs are there, they are better-paying jobs, but there are less
jobs; and so we have to also look at areas where we have high
labor-intense jobs so people have a place to work; one of them,
clearly, is tourism. The jobs are right here in our country, so
we have to make this our top priority as we move forward.
So, I want to thank all of you for being here. I don't know
if you wanted to add anything, Senator Blunt.
Senator Blunt. You know, again, Madam Chairman, thanks
again for having this conference. I think we all are focused on
the visa challenge, though, I believe that we could look at a
letter, Chairman, and other things that--to the State
Department that would help there. I didn't hear quite as much
today as I'd hoped to hear, about what we're doing to make it
better for people who can get here. There are plenty of people
who can get here, and, you know, I don't know if, under this
program we designed, Roger and Mr. Cloobeck, either one, I
don't know if there's a way to encourage the actual ports of
entry to be more appealing when you get here, whether there is
some kind of matching grant potential out there that--ports of
entry airports----
Mr. Cloobeck. Senator, we're not authorized under the
statute to spend any money for capital expenditures, or any
kind of physical assets.
Senator Blunt. OK.
Mr. Cloobeck. But I believe that we can, in conjunction
with stakeholders like USTA and other people in Travel and
Tourism, to get corporations, perhaps, to handhold our ports of
entry, our international ports. I believe in Orlando----
Mr. Sprouls. Yes, Senator, in Orlando, we've done exactly
that. We've been able to partner, actually, with DHS, and
partner with all of the stakeholders in Central Florida, to get
together and do something about the experience coming in;
everything from gathering some funds in terms of doing Capitol
paintings and pictures and those kinds of things; but also
consulting with, and advising about lines should be done, all
of the things dealing with the experience from the moment the
plane lands.
And, we've been pretty successful; in fact, I think we'll
be demonstrating Orlando as a true model port sometime later
this spring, to show the other model ports how it can really be
done; and it has been a great public/private partnership there.
So there are--there is a lot that can be done, and that can
be done very, very quickly.
Mr. Dow. Another simple thing that can be done is directing
CBP officers to say, welcome home, welcome to the U.S., as
you've heard Mr. Wagner testify.
Mr. Cloobeck. How about smiling?
Mr. Dow. It's nice to have. And, also talk to the
travelers. We've offered from hotel companies, et cetera, to do
customer service training, offered to do it for free. I think
if CBP was directed to do this, it would be very helpful. The
industry will put their own skin in the game, their own people,
et cetera, and we could really help, because security and a
hospitable attitude are not mutually exclusive. You can have
great security and you can be friendly and welcome people.
Senator Blunt. Right. And, I guess my point would be that
the marketplace of people who can come without a visa problem
is not saturated.
Ms. Johnson. Yes, absolutely.
Senator Blunt. And, you know, we need to be sure that when
they do come, and they go home, that they're telling everybody
what a great experience this was, not what a bad experience
this was. And, these are for people who can come now just
because we've opened--we do have lots of visa waiver countries.
Those are actually the travelers who fund this program
and--and I'm interested in that, as well as what we can do to
make it easier for travelers who have a hard time coming here.
Let's also remember there are a lot of travelers who have
an easy time coming here if we make this the kind of place that
we--that they want--that they want to come and they want to
return to; and--and that's really the target, whether it's
making it easy, and by growing that group with easier visa
policies or not, we have lots of people who can come to the
country that aren't coming; and part of this is--part of this
is how we encourage them to come here, and then how we ensure
collectively, this is the best possible experience when they
are here.
Mr. Dow. To your point, the London Times ran a full-page
article on a Sunday with a Statue of Liberty over a stop sign
saying: Ten reasons not to go to America. You can get the
Disney experience in Paris; you can shop in Milan; you can
gamble in Macau; you can ride the beaches in Australia. And we
have to change that, because that's what we're up against.
Ms. Johnson. And, Senator Blunt, in the long presentation
and in the copy of the documentation that was sent to Secretary
Lock on the recommendations for travel facilitation it does
speak specifically to a private/public sharing of model airport
entries so they can market like Orlando is doing with Universal
Studios and Minneapolis could be with Carlson or--you know, the
ports of entry would all have a private partner that could help
market the country, and the destination, and really make it
welcoming. But, you're absolutely right, greeting the people
when they come into our borders is essential in treating them
in a hospitable manner.
Senator Klobuchar. All right. Well, very good. I see that
Mr. Olson from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is here, so I
can call to talk about our direct issues here of business, and
I really, truly believe that if we can increase tourism here,
we're going to increase jobs; we're going to do a lot better of
a job for our country.
I want to thank Senator Blunt for being our Ranking Member.
You did a great job today. It comes with a vast amount of
knowledge over from the House. I think you saw a huge number of
Senators that stayed here the entire time; weren't running off,
were engaged, and are interested, Mr. Dow, in taking that
blueprint you have, and really taking ideas into action.
So, I want to thank all of you for being here.
Good luck, Mr. Cloobeck; we're looking forward to seeing
those first ads, and we will meet again soon to see the
results.
Thank you, everyone.
We'll keep the record open for 2 weeks.
[Whereupon, at 12:07 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Prepared Statement of Hon. Tom Udall, U.S. Senator from New Mexico
New Mexico describes itself as the ``Land of Enchantment,'' and
each year my state welcomes 10 million visitors. This is 5 times the
number of people who call New Mexico home.
Visitors travel from around the world to attend New Mexico's many
festivals and cultural events, such as our annual Balloon Fiesta and
Santa Fe Indian Market. With its unique local art community and
stunning landscapes from Shiprock to the White Sands dunes, New Mexico
has a lot to offer to visitors.
Tourism and travel support over 100,000 jobs and contribute $6.1
billion to the state's economy. Many of these jobs are in rural areas
with high rates of unemployment.
Yet tourism in New Mexico and other parts of the United States
provide more than an economic boost. Tourism is a form of public
diplomacy that fosters good will for our country around the world.
I am pleased that Congress passed the Travel Promotion Act, a bill
that I was proud to co-sponsor. Giving the tourism sector a voice
within the federal government that is commensurate with its economic
and strategic importance is an important step to ensure our nation's
competitiveness
Thankfully, the tourism industry is projected to improve in the
next 5 years. But America must continue to compete for its share of the
international tourism market in a tough economic climate.
I look forward to learning about the Corporation for Travel
Promotion's progress and hearing from this panel on how we can make our
country more welcoming for foreign visitors.
In conclusion, I want to extend my thanks to Senator Klobuchar for
calling this hearing today and thank our witnesses for sharing their
input and insights into how tourism can thrive again here in the United
States.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
Hon. Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale
Question 1. One issue which I want to pursue on an ongoing basis is
our current system (or lack thereof) for tracking travel metrics. In an
era where we know exactly how many Twitter followers we have, I was
surprised to find that we do not have simple answers to offer
prospective travelers to the following types of questions: how long
will it take to be interviewed for a visa? How many citizens of each
country fail to leave the U.S. on time? How many CBP officers would we
need at Dulles to process flights in under 30 minutes? We are ceding
market share because we lack the basic business model our country needs
to compete with other countries. I would like for this subcommittee's
members to receive these statistics so that we can publish them as part
of our effort to improve our country's visa and port of entry systems.
What travel statistics do you receive from the State Department or the
Department of Homeland Security on a regular basis?
Answer. The Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) share data on a regular basis to enable Commerce to
publish the official monthly, quarterly, and annual census of overseas
travelers to the United States. Specifically, DHS supplies Commerce
with entry data tapes from the I-94 immigration forms completed by
arriving international visitors and from DHS' Electronic System for
Travel Authorization.
Additionally, Commerce distributes its international travel
forecasts to DHS and the Department of State to assist them with
strategic planning. DHS regularly shares with Commerce information on
its Customs and Border Protection staffing levels at U.S. ports-of-
entry, processing times at U.S. borders, and initiatives to enhance the
international visitor's customer experience when arriving in the United
States. State frequently sends Commerce statistics on demand for U.S.
visas, visa interview wait times, visa refusal rates, and staffing
levels at U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world. State also
maintains on its public website, travel.state.gov, appointment wait
times for every single visa- issuing post worldwide. This information
is updated weekly. All of the available information is used
collaboratively by the three Departments to strategize on solutions to
better facilitate travel to the United States.
Question 2. Will you commit to working with us to bring this type
of visibility on travel metrics?
Answer. The Department of Commerce welcomes the opportunity to work
with you to bring visibility to travel metrics.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Mark Begich to
Hon. Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale
Question. Will you please let my office and the Commerce Committee
know when a permanent director is appointed to head the Office of
Travel Promotion?
Answer. The Department of Commerce shall be glad to notify your
office as soon as a permanent director of the Office of Travel
Promotion is appointed.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to
Hon. Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale
Question. The Commerce Department is projecting significant growth
in international arrivals to the U.S., especially from expanding
markets like China, India, and Brazil. However, it does not appear that
the State Department or CBP is working under the same factual scenarios
in projecting their needs on staffing and infrastructure. Can each of
you explain the degree of common planning across agencies and how our
government is working effectively to meet the expected growth in
travel?
Answer. The Department of Commerce's International Trade
Administration (ITA) is working closely with the Department of Homeland
Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department
of State to address travel facilitation issues in support of the
expected growth in international travel to the United States. Commerce,
State, and DHS meet regularly to discuss travel issues under the
auspices of the President's Economic Council and the Travel and Tourism
Advisory Board. ITA, through its Office of Travel Promotion and Office
of Travel and Tourism Industries, has worked closely with CBP to
support CBP's efforts to implement the Electronic System for Travel
Authorization (ESTA) fee collection system, which collects the fees to
fund the Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP). Through the
interagency Tourism Policy Council, ITA has partnered with CBP and
State to disseminate information regarding the implementation of the
ESTA fee and to explore ways to facilitate the entry process for
foreign visitors into the United States. These efforts will support and
complement the work of the CTP in promoting international visitation to
the United States.
The Department of Commerce is also working with both DHS and State
on an interagency team led by the National Security Council's
Interagency Policy Committee to more effectively communicate to
industry and travelers the efforts the three Departments are making to
address travel facilitation issues and better serve the traveling
public.
More broadly, DHS has put in place programs to improve security and
facilitate the flow of legitimate trade and travel. This includes the
Model Ports of Entry Program and Global Entry trusted traveler program.
State is working to meet demand for visas by making visa processing
more efficient, secure, and customer-friendly and shifting resources to
its embassies and consulates experiencing higher levels of visa demand.
Visa demand in Brazil, China, and India, for example, is up 29 percent
year to date and demand continues to grow. State's Bureau of Consular
Affairs (CA) has responded to this demand with increased resources,
peak-season temporary staffing, management and procedural innovation,
and improved technology. Additionally, since November 2008, DHS
designated nine new countries into the Visa Waiver Program. This brings
the total to 36 countries under this program, which represents 62
percent of tourist or business travelers entering the United States by
air.
______
United States Department of State,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senators Klobuchar and Blunt,
I want to thank you for the opportunity to share with you the
accomplishments of my colleagues in the Bureau of Consular Affairs in
our efforts to facilitate the legitimate travel of millions of
visitors, businesspeople, students, and others to the United States.
As I stated in my testimony on April 5, 2011 before the
Subcommittee you chair, the good news is that international arrivals to
the United States continue to climb. The Department of Commerce's
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries reports that 2010 was a very
good year for the United States tourism industry. In 2010, 60 million
international visitors entered the United States, 5 million more than
the year before. Visits from Asia, South America, and the Middle East
demonstrated the strongest growth, due to record level visits from
Brazil, India, and China.
I listened carefully to the testimony of the second witness panel
and want to assure you that the Bureau of Consular Affairs has a long-
term plan to address the concerns expressed. Our challenge is to meet
the increasing worldwide visa demand from these potential visitors
without compromising the security of our nation's borders. I would like
to extend an invitation to you and your colleagues to visit any of our
consulates to see first-hand how we are managing and meeting this
challenge.
Attached you will find answers to the four questions raised at the
hearing as well as charts which outline our consular repositioning
plans. I understand that our respective staff will be meeting to
discuss additional questions and concerns which were raised by the
private sector witnesses. I look forward to our fruitful cooperation on
the implementation of the Travel Promotion Act.
Sincerely,
David T. Donahue,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services.
Question 1. Has there been any increase in travel to the U.S. from
countries which entered VWP since 2005?
Answer. The chart shows the admission data, provided by DHS, for
all nonimmigrant travelers from the nine countries that have joined the
VWP since 2005. All countries joined early in FY 2009, except Greece,
which joined mid-FY 2010. While some amount of the change from FY 2009
to FY 2010 may be a result of countries joining the VWP, other factors,
such as the global economic recovery, may also contribute.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nonimmigrant Admissions to the United States
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Country FY 2008 FY 2009 FY2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czech Republic 59,805 77,395 78,856
Estonia 13,179 20,437 15,105
Greece 82,518 75,426 85,968
Hungary 53,664 60,937 70,626
Latvia 14,533 15,892 22,237
Lithuania 15,991 20,188 23,613
Malta 5,556 5,258 6,139
Slovakia 28,702 36,341 41,609
South Korea 1,007,466 906,006 1,198,900
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 2. How many countries are in the process of entry into
VWP?
Answer. Several countries have inquired about joining the VWP, but
none currently meets all of the requirements, nor has any been
nominated by the Secretary of State to the Secretary of Homeland
Security for designation in the program. DHS and State have held in-
depth discussions with Chile, Croatia, and Taiwan, at their request, on
specific requirements for membership in the program, including the
information-sharing mandates of the 9/11 Commission Act. However, no
aspirants currently meet all of the eligibility requirements. The
Department, with DHS, will continue to discuss VWP requirements with
interested aspirants; although VWP membership may not be imminent, many
of the VWP requirements are best practices that are beneficial to all
countries and the security of international travel.
Question 3. Please share the CA spread sheet on visa demand and NIV
staffing needs projections with the Committee.
Answer.
Non-Immigrant Visa Demand and Staffing Projections
The Bureau of Consular Affairs evaluates consular workload demand
for all consular posts on a yearly basis taking into consideration the
following factors: (1) year-to-year increases in volume demand; (2)
changes in processing requirements; (3) environmental complexity
factors; (4) input from individual posts on staffing via Mission
Strategic Plans, Consular Workload Statistics System, Office of the
Inspector General Reports, reports from Consular Management Assistant
Teams, reports from Regional Consular Officers, and interactions with
consular and front office management at post; and (5) external economic
factors and their impact on consular demand. In reviewing these
materials, CA determines a priority order for staffing needs and works
within the Department to create and fill new consular positions as
expeditiously as possible. In addition, CA suggests the
``repositioning'' of consular officer positions if a decrease in
workload merits it. In the case of ``repositioning", a post which is
overstaffed will lose an officer position to an understaffed post.
Consular Repositioning FY 2011--Phase One
Mission China
Beijing 2 FS04 positions
Chengdu 1 FS04 position
Guangzhou 1 FS04 position
Shanghai 3 FS 04 positions; 1 FS03 position
Shenyang 1 FS04 position
Mission Brazil
Brasilia 1 FS04 position
Recife 1 FS04 position
Rio 2 FS04 positions
Sao Paulo 3 FS04 positions; 1 FS03 position
Mission Haiti
Port au Prince 2 FS04 positions
Mission Israel
Tel Aviv 1 FS03 position
Consular Repositioning FY2011--Phase Two (proposed new positions)
Number of Grade of
Mission Post positions positions Notes
Mission Buenos 2 FS04 Increased visa demand
Argentina Aires
Mission Yerevan 2 FS04 Iranian applicants
Armenia
Mission Brazil Brasili 1 FS04 Workload demands
a (all)
Rio 2 FS03, FS04
Sao 1 FS03
Paulo
Mission China Beijing 1 FS03 Workload demands
(all)
Guangzh 2 FS04
ou
Shangha 1 FS03
i
Mission India Mumbai 1 FS03 Add NIV manager
New 2 FS04 ACS volume/complexity
Delhi
Mission Kenya Nairobi 1 FS03 FPM--regional IV
cases
Mission Kuwait Kuwait 1 FS04 ACS volume
City
Mission Russia Moscow 1 FS04 Workload demand
Vladivo 1 FS04 Workload/district
stok size
Mission Saudi Dhahran 1 FS04 Workload demand
Arabia
Mission Turkey Ankara 1 FS04 ACS and IV volume
Mission Hanoi 1 FS04 ACS and NIV volume
Vietnam
Ho Chi 1 FS04 IV growth
Minh
City
Mission Yemen Sana'a 1 FS03 Complexity of work
Regional 1 FS02 Increase RCO visits
Consular
Officer
Total 25 1 FS02; 7 FS03; 17 FS04
Repositioned jobs
Mission Australia--Abolish Canberra FS04 position, number 30073004, and
establish new FS04 consular position in Melbourne.
Total--1 abolished position, 1 new position
Mission China
Interview Windows and Adjudicators Needed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission China
----------------------- Windows Needed to
Adjudicators Needed Process Consular
Fiscal Year to Manage Consular Workload (15% Annual
Workload (15% Annual Growth)
Growth)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011 97 62 Total No. of Adjudicators (2010): 90
2012 108 70 Total No. of Windows (2010): 103
2013 118 83
2014 128 90 FY 2013 New Guangzhou Consulate:
2015 142 96 Gain 24 Windows
2016 156 104 FY 2013 Chengdu Renovations:
2017 173 113 Gain 8 Windows
2018 193 123 FY 2013 Shanghai Consular Expansion:
2019 214 135 Gain 15 Windows
2020 242 148 FY 2014 New Beijing Annex:
Gain 15 Windows
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assumptions:
** 15 percent annual growth in visa applications
** Windows being used for two shifts per day.
** Does not take into account possible economic downturn or other factors that could negatively impact Chinese
travel.
** Chinese government grants permission and permits for construction projects
Question 4. Please share the list of the countries with growing NIV
demand and which are a challenge to staff.
Answer. Of particular concern over the next several years will be
staffing levels in Brazil, China, and, to a lesser extent, India. We
increased staffing considerably in India in the mid-2000s, and expect
that we will need further resources there within the next two to 3
years. In Brazil and China, CA has added 18 new positions (China) and
15 new positions (Brazil) since 2008. We expect to add 14 more
positions to each of those countries within the next year (some of
those positions will be limited non-career appointments). Mexico is
also one of our ``Big Four'' posts. In fact, it is the largest consular
demand post in the world. In the mid 2000s, CA added 10 positions to
Mission Mexico to help meet workload demands there. At this time,
workload in Mexico is steady.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
David T. Donahue
Question 1. Since 2000, the U.S. has lost a significant market
share of Brazilian visitors. Due largely to difficulties in the visa
process, Brazilian travelers have chosen other destinations around the
world. One potential solution to this problem would be the addition of
Brazil into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). To be admitted to the
program a country must fulfill several requirements including a current
overstay rate under 3 percent. Even if they currently do not meet all
the requirements, I believe it may be appropriate for the two countries
to initiate a bilateral dialogue on steps Brazil can take to enhance
its prospects to qualify for the VWP. As you know, the U.S. engaged in
initial discussions with 13 countries in 2005--leading to the addition
of 7 countries into the VWP in 2008.
Can you provide to the Committee information on Brazil's current
and historical overstay rates? Building on the President's recent
comments in South America, would the Department be willing to begin
discussions with Brazil on the requirements to be considered for
admission to the VWP? During the hearing, you committed to providing
the Committee with a list of countries currently being considered for
the VWP. Can you provide a status report with respect to each such
country, including timelines for discussions of particular security
requirements, scheduled reviews or meetings, or other metrics related
to their inclusion in the VWP?
Answer. The Department of Homeland Security has responsibility for
overstay data as it is based on data from travelers in the United
States. Please refer to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for
information on overstay rates.
For the purposes of membership in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP),
refusal rates are currently the leading metric and are calculated for
visitor (B category) visas each Fiscal Year. Going back to Fiscal Year
2005, the visa refusal rates for Brazil are as follows:
FY 2005: 24.2%
FY 2006: 13.2%
FY 2007: 9.6%
FY 2008: 5.5%
FY 2009: 7.0%
FY 2010: 5.2%
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the lead on the VWP,
with support from the Department of State. Any engagement with Brazil
on VWP will be determined by DHS; the Department of State would support
DHS with any discussions as appropriate.
At this time, Brazil does not meet most of the key requirements for
membership. Among other requirements, Brazil does not meet the 3-
percent visitor visa refusal rate requirement, does not offer
reciprocal visa free travel to U.S. travelers, and has not engaged on
any of the information-sharing requirements.
Several countries have inquired about joining the VWP, but none
currently meets all of the requirements. DHS and State have held in-
depth discussions with Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Poland, Romania, and
Taiwan, among others, at each of their requests, on specific
requirements for membership in the program, including the information-
sharing mandates of the 9/11 Commission Act; however, none currently
meets all of the eligibility requirements. The Department and DHS will
continue to discuss VWP requirements with interested countries.
Although VWP membership may be a future occurrence for some, many of
the VWP requirements are best practices that are beneficial to all
countries and the security of international travel.
The Secretary of State has the authority to nominate new countries
to DHS for VWP membership. However, we don't usually exercise this
authority until a country has met most of the major requirements for
membership, including the refusal rate. We have learned that formal
nominations create unmanageable expectations if the outstanding
requirements are out of our control. Both DHS and State will discuss
VWP requirements with countries and, as appropriate, engage with them
on the requirements absent formal nomination by the Secretary of State.
Question 2. I understand that the State Department has authority to
determine the duration of a visa to the U.S., but that it has made it a
policy to provide terms that are only equal to or less than what an
American would receive if headed to the other country. In some
circumstances, this may be counterproductive; especially given the
amount of money repeat tourists spend in our country. Not only is it an
added hassle, but making a repeat visitor get another interview also
blocks the interview slot for another visitor. How is the Department's
current policy in our country's best interest? Is the Department of
State's current policy regarding reciprocity mandated by statute or a
regulatory decision by the department, and would the Department be open
to re-evaluating this policy?
Answer. Sections 221(c) and 281 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (INA) require that U.S. visa validity be determined on the basis of
reciprocity. The goal of visa reciprocity is to obtain progressive visa
regimes, consistent with U.S. national interests, laws and regulations,
while encouraging international travel that benefits U.S. citizens and
the U.S. economy. U.S. law requires the validity of visas, including
number of entries and fees, to be based insofar as practicable on the
treatment accorded to American citizens.
The INA sets the legal requirements of reciprocity. We defer to
Congress on whether these sections of law should be changed.
INA 221 (c) Period of Validity; Requirement of Visa [8 U.S.C.
1201]: ``A nonimmigrant visa shall be valid for such periods as shall
be by regulations prescribed. In prescribing the period of validity of
a nonimmigrant visa in the case of nationals of any foreign country who
are eligible for such visas, the Secretary of State shall, insofar as
practicable, accord to such nationals the same treatment upon a
reciprocal basis as such foreign country accords to nationals of the
United States who are within a similar class; except that in the case
of aliens who are nationals of a foreign country and who either are
granted refugee status and firmly resettled in another foreign country
or are granted permanent residence and residing in another foreign
country, the Secretary of State may prescribe the period of validity of
such a visa based upon the treatment granted by that other foreign
country to alien refugees and permanent residents, respectively, in the
United States.''
INA 281 nonimmigrant visa fees [8 U.S.C. 1351]: ``The fees for the
furnishing and verification of applications for visas by nonimmigrants
of each foreign country and for the issuance of visas to nonimmigrants
of each foreign country shall be prescribed by the Secretary of State,
if practicable, in amounts corresponding to the total of all visa,
entry, residence, or other similar fees, taxes, or charges assessed or
levied against nationals of the United States by the foreign countries
of which such nonimmigrants are nationals or stateless residents:
Provided, that nonimmigrant visas issued to aliens coming to the United
States in transit to and from the headquarters district of the United
Nations in accordance with the provisions of the Headquarters Agreement
shall be gratis.''
Question 3. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and India:
Based on a 40 hour work week, approximately how much time does each
officer spend conducting nonimmigrant visa interviews, and how is the
allocation of time determined? How much of the 8 hour work day of each
consular officer is spent conducting nonimmigrant visa interviews?
Answer. Consular officers devote the vast majority of their time
to visa adjudication. Typically, officers spend more than half their
workdays interacting with visa applicants face-to-face in an interview
window, but adjudicatory work extends beyond the face-to-face
interaction. As part of the adjudicatory process, officers must verify
the identity of the applicant, assess the applicant's qualifications
for the visa, review historical data about the applicant, and resolve
any issues that emerge. In many cases, officers can complete certain
activities outside of the applicant's presence--this improves the
applicants' experience and allows us to reduce demand for interview
windows. For example, in China, consular officers reuse previously
captured fingerprints and make extensive use of waiver of interview
procedures to process applicants renewing their visas without a face-
to-face interview. The Department is working to expand these waivers of
interview procedures to posts in Brazil and India through the
establishment of offsite biometrics collection centers that will allow
us to complete computer-based adjudications for many more Brazilian and
Indian applicants.
Given our ability to complete certain processing steps outside the
applicant's presence, the Department does not focus on ``time in
interview window'' as a core metric but rather emphasizes overall
productivity across the consular section. The Department relies on
consular managers to actively monitor and manage the overall
adjudication process to determine how best to deploy consular officer
resources.
Question 4. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and India:
1How many consular officers do you have conducting nonimmigrant visa
interviews in each consulate in each country?
Answer. At present, the Department has 55 consular officer
positions in Brazil (including 8 positions established in May 2011), 90
in China, and 88 in India. To ensure the Department is able to respond
to all types of consular requirements--from supporting an evacuation in
the Middle East to responding to a surge in visa demand--the Department
does not assign officers to a single task. Instead, every consular
officer overseas is authorized and expected to complete those tasks
which are the highest priority for that consular post at any given
time. At present, the majority of our officers assigned to these three
countries are focused on nonimmigrant visa processing.
The Department has recently undertaken a comprehensive review of
consular officer needs and staffing options for Brazil and China in
particular. Over the coming year, the Department plans to create four
more consular officer positions in Brazil and 13 in China, and is
working on a pilot program to hire an additional 10 visa adjudicators
in each country through the use of limited non-career appointments
(LNA). If the pilot is successful, we hope to expand this program. The
Department believes India has sufficient consular staffing to address
its workload at present.
Question 5. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and India:
How many interview windows are available to conduct the nonimmigrant
interviews in each consulate in each country? How many windows are used
for other types of visas?
Answer. The Department has 53 interview windows in Brazil, 103 in
China, and 112 in India. Interview windows are not dedicated to
specific types of visas, and they may be used for a variety of
different purposes at different times, such as serving American
citizens or conducting immigrant visa or anti-fraud interviews.
Question 6. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and India:
On average, how many applicants are interviewed by each consular
officer per day in each consulate in each country?
Answer. As noted above, the Department does not track ``interviews
per officer'' as a core performance metric. Instead, we focus on the
overall productivity of our consular sections since we are able to
process growing numbers of applicants without requiring an interview.
Year to date, the Department has processed 41 percent more visas in
Brazil, 29 percent in China, and 17 percent more visas in India
compared to last year.
Question 7. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and India:
How many days a year do consular officers conduct nonimmigrant
interviews at each consulate in each country?
Answer. Generally, consular sections are open for consular services
except for U.S. and local holidays (as defined by the host government)
and one training day each month. Consular officers are entitled to
these holidays plus any annual and sick leave they have accrued (in
accordance with the Department's policies). Consular officers are
expected to provide consular services whenever the section is open to
the public and they are at work.
Question 8. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and India:
Are there a minimum number of applicants that each officer and each
consulate is required to process daily, monthly or yearly? What is the
maximum number of visa interviews scheduled in each consulate in one
day or month?
Answer. The Department does not establish either a minimum or
maximum number of applicants/interviews by officer or by consular
section. The Department relies on its consular managers in each
consular section to schedule an appropriate number of appointments
based on demand, case complexity, and officer availability.
Question 9. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and India:
How does each consulate set the availability of future visa interview
appointment slots-for example, after how many days do you cutoff
scheduling future visa interview appointments?
Answer. The Department relies on its consular managers in each
consular section to make future visa appointments available in a
reasonable fashion given local conditions.
Question 10. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and
India: What is the average interview time per applicant in during non-
peak periods?
Answer. Consular officers are trained to obtain the required
information and render a decision as quickly as possible. Interview
length depends on a variety of factors including the complexity of the
language used during an interview, the sophistication of the visa
applicant, any issues that might arise during the course of the
interview that must be resolved, and the nature of the visa requested.
Question 11. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and
India: When are the peak periods for visa application activity at your
consulate? What is the average visa interview wait time during these
peak periods compared to the rest of the year?
Answer. Peak seasons vary from country to country and post to post.
Peak demand in China is May through September. Peak season in Brazil is
June through November. Peak seasons in India are May through July and
the month of November.
While visa appointment wait times tend to be longer during these
peak periods, they are also affected by other factors, such as the
staffing situation at a particular post at a given time. In FY 2010,
the average peak and non-peak visa wait times were respectively 47 days
and 20 days for Brazil, 33 days and 14 days for China, and 15 days and
12 days for India.
Question 12. With respect to consulates in Brazil, China, and
India: Does your consulate ever conduct visa interviews on Saturdays or
in the evenings? If so, when?
Answer. The Department has offered special interview hours on
Saturdays and U.S./local holidays under exceptional circumstances, but
consular sections are not staffed to do so on a regular basis. Limits
on our local staff and restrictions imposed by landlords of many of our
host country facilities also hinder our ability to do this. Consular
managers are responsible for deciding when these extra interview slots
are needed and how best to schedule those extra slots to accommodate
local conditions and staff availability.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Mark Begich to
David T. Donahue
Question 1. Mr. Donahue, as the Corporation for Travel Promotion
begins to market Destination USA, it is likely the Department of State
will need additional capacity to process the expected increase in
foreign visitors. During the hearing you indicated the Dept. of State
has a spreadsheet of where it anticipates resources for processing
visas will be needed, and that you would be able to provide it for the
Committee. Can you please provide the above mentioned spreadsheet for
the Committee?
Answer. The spreadsheet is enclosed.
Mission China
Interview Windows and Adjudicators Needed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission China
----------------------- Windows Needed to
Adjudicators Needed Process Consular
Fiscal Year to Manage Consular Workload (15% Annual
Workload (15% Annual Growth)
Growth)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011 97 62 Total No. of Adjudicators (2010): 90
2012 108 70 Total No. of Windows (2010): 103
2013 118 83
2014 128 90 FY 2013 New Guangzhou Consulate:
2015 142 96 Gain 24 Windows
2016 156 104 FY 2013 Chengdu Renovations:
2017 173 113 Gain 8 Windows
2018 193 123 FY 2013 Shanghai Consular Expansion:
2019 214 135 Gain 15 Windows
2020 242 148 FY 2014 New Beijing Annex:
Gain 15 Windows
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assumptions:
** 15 percent annual growth in visa applications
** Windows being used for two shifts per day.
** Does not take into account possible economic downturn or other factors that could negatively impact Chinese
travel.
** Chinese government grants permission and permits for construction projects
Question 2. What is the average wait time from application to
issuance of a travel Visa?
Answer. In 95 of our 220 posts worldwide, wait times for visa
appointments are less than 7 days, and in another 166 posts, wait times
are less than 20 days. After the interview, the vast majority of
qualified applicants--97 percent--receive their visas within 2 to 3
days.
Question 3. If a consulate or embassy hires additional officers to
interview visa applicants, will the increased revenue from processing
additional Visas make these hires self-sustaining?
Answer. Assuming visa demand remains unsated, the revenue generated
by each consular officer will help to offset most of the costs of their
positions, but not all.
Consular fee revenues support consular operations. Because of the
complicated and intertwined nature of the work of our missions abroad
and the State Department, many of the support functions, such as
facilities, the General Services Office, and human resources, are
funded through appropriations, not fees. Appropriations which help
support our work abroad include: Diplomatic and Consular Programs,
Embassy Security, Construction and Maintenance, and the Working Capital
Fund. Thus, the fees generated from the additional consular positions
will contribute to supporting consular operations related to their
costs, but not all of the associated support costs.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to
David T. Donahue
Question 1. It is my understanding that each consular officer
generates an average of $2.7 million in revenue for the State
Department through visa fees on applications and interviews. Can you
explain how State currently uses those funds and, specifically, what
portion of that funding goes to hire new consular employees who perform
duties relating to visa processing?
Answer. The Department of State uses visa fees to cover costs
related to providing consular services worldwide. The Department funds
the Border Security Program (BSP) through a combination of Machine
Readable Visa (MRV) fees, other Enhanced Border Security Program fees,
the Western Hemisphere Travel Surcharge, and Visa Fraud fees.
The MRV fee is a critical revenue stream that funds most of the
BSP. Within the BSP, MRV fee revenue funds the salaries and support
costs for overseas consular officers, a number of Locally Employed
Staff, domestic consular staff, and other Department of State bureau
staff directly involved in Border Security support (e.g., Diplomatic
Security, Information Resources Management, the Office of the
Secretary, and Administration). In FY 2011, an estimated $435 million,
or twenty-two percent of BSP funding, will be used to fund the salary
and support costs associated with hiring and maintaining consular
employees who perform duties related to visa processing.
Note: As visa fee revenues vary based on visa demand, the
Department of State does not calculate or track revenue on a per
officer basis. Such calculations would vary widely year over year, from
post to post, and by officer, and is not a useful measure for planning
purposes.
Question 2. I recognize that the Department of State has an
unbelievably diverse portfolio of challenges and crises to manage but
it also has to fulfill its basic missions. Its role to vet the desire
of the millions of foreign visitors to the U.S. is such a core mission.
However, this mission does not appear in key mission statements, it
does not appear to be part of any planning for building of facilities
or use of advanced technology, and it is barely even mentioned in the
department's budget submission. Is the constant imbalance between what
we need and what we are getting inevitable or are there ways to make
attracting visitors to the U.S. part of the department's long-term
planning?
Answer. The Department recognizes the importance of travel and
tourism to the United States and is committed to adjudicating and
issuing visas to eligible applicants, effectively and efficiently. For
this reason, Consular Affairs (CA) has sought to utilize our existing
physical infrastructure efficiently and increase capacity and
capability through the use of advanced technology instead of
dramatically increasing our overseas staff and facilities. This is a
strategic priority for the Department and has been featured prominently
in our strategic plans. The opening sentences of the Congressional
Budget Justification for Consular Affairs states: ``The mission of the
Bureau of Consular Affairs is to protect the lives and interests of
U.S. citizens overseas and to strengthen U.S. border security through
the vigilant adjudication of U.S. passports and visas.''
In FY 2011, the Department's nonimmigrant visa workload is
anticipated at approximately 8.4 million applications. After our
adjudication, we anticipate issuing more than seven million
nonimmigrant visas.
To keep up with the visa demand while effectively adjudicating each
eligible application, the Department is employing advanced identity-
verification techniques such as biometrics, and pursing information-
sharing agreements with interagency partners. To increase productivity
and more effectively use our human resources, we are using electronic
processing and pre-interview analysis of applications. Further, the
Department is developing modern, integrated systems that provide
maximum information to adjudicators and make adjudication and issuance
of visas more efficient. For example, we are leveraging new
technologies to enhance our Security Advisory Opinion procedures and
Global Citizen Services program, CA's next-generation software, which
will result in more effective and efficient service provision and more
secure document issuance.
In addition to improving on our technologies, we are beginning a
pilot program of hiring limited non-career appointments (LNAs) to meet
demands at our highest-volume posts. At two of our highest volume
posts, China and Brazil, we plan to hire ten LNAs as entry-level visa
adjudicators for each country. Our goal is to have this new staff on
the job in Brazil and China in early 2012.
These initiatives also serve to improve our customer service and
responsiveness. While the task of marketing the United States to
possible foreign tourists is outside of the Department's purview, we
hope to encourage applications for visas by tourists, businesspeople,
and students by ensuring that the public is aware of the visa process,
can easily meet information requirements, and is served in an efficient
and timely manner.
CA's budget request is different than most Department of State
budget requests because CA is, uniquely, primarily fee-funded. While CA
keeps a portion of its fees and surcharges to fund consular operations,
CA does not retain all of the fees and surcharges. Approximately 30
percent of all revenue collected goes to the Department of Treasury.
The other 70 percent is shared with other bureaus within the Department
of State, mostly in support of the Border Security Program (BSP). CA's
portion of that funding helps to maintain current services; to provide
base level funding for passport, visa, and other essential services to
American citizens overseas; and to modernize current technologies. The
BSP chapter provides additional details on the fees used to support
domestic and overseas consular operations. The BSP supports domestic
and overseas consular operations and focuses on five fundamental
objectives: information, connectivity, infrastructure, integrity, and
human resources.
Question 3. The lack of transparency and lengthy wait times
seemingly create a burdensome visa process for international visitors
from non-VWP countries. While these issues remain one of the main
obstacles for potential visitors, I remain particularly concerned with
the English language requirement in the visa process. The need for the
visa application to be submitted in English provides a significant
challenge for travelers from non-English speaking countries. Would
State look into changing these requirements to ease the visa
application?
Answer. We use visa applications for three principal purposes: to
gather information from the visa applicant, to use in interagency
security screening, and to use as evidence in court cases involving
violations of U.S. law. While we agree that allowing visa applicants to
complete their visa applications in their native language would ease
the visa application process for them, such a policy would pose
unacceptable security vulnerabilities for the United States.
We provide visa applicants with translations of the questions on
the visa application form in 20 foreign languages. U.S. embassies and
consulates overseas and local service providers are available to assist
visa applicants with questions on the visa application. In the last 5
years visa applications worldwide have increased 34 percent, and are up
124 percent in China, 51 percent in India, 52 percent in Russia, 24
percent in Mexico, and 234 percent in Brazil.
At 95 of our 220 posts worldwide, wait times for visa appointments
are under 7 days and at another 166 posts, wait times are under 20
days. We have an aggressive program to increase staffing in China and
Brazil to bring down wait times in these countries. All embassies and
consulates have websites that clearly explain the visa application
process to increase transparency. We also note that many applicants are
issued visas valid for up to 10 years and they may be able to renew
their visa without returning to the consular section.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
John Wagner
Question 1. International visitors are a critical component of the
U.S. travel economy, but between 2000 and 2007, overseas travel to the
U.S. fell 8 percent (or approximately 2 million travelers) even though
overseas travel around the world grew by 28 percent (or 35 million
travelers) over the same period. The average international visitors
spends approximately $4,000 during a trip, therefore, the failure to
keep pace with the growth in international travel since 2000 has cost
the U.S. economy an estimated $509 billion in total spending and $32
billion in direct tax receipts. In an effort to increase the U.S. share
of international visitors, we must ensure that the entry process does
not deter first time or repeat travelers from visiting the U.S. To that
end, has DHS established baseline data and developed clear metrics
going forward in order to assess the efficiency of the CBP workforce?
If not, does the Department intend to look into developing performance
metrics as a way to ensure effective use of their current resources?
Answer. CBP management is always looking for effective ways to use
our resources. We continually evaluate our performance and our way of
doing business. We also continue to engage with our stakeholders to
improve the entry process for international travelers. Some of the
recent efficiencies that CBP has implemented include the expansion of
trusted traveler programs, the automation of forms such as the I-94W,
and the recent pilot programs such as One Stop Clearance and Express
Connections.
In terms of metrics, we measure compliance through a random sample
of travelers in a program called COMPEX (the Compliance Measurement
Examination System) that analyzes the sampled pool to determine the
compliance of the travelers with the various CBP programs. Developed
under the former U.S. Customs Service, COMPEX randomly selects
travelers entering the country for more detailed inspections to include
baggage, immigration and agriculture inspections. Its results are used
to estimate the total amount of potential illegal activity passing
undetected through U.S. ports of entry in the Land Privately Owned
Vehicle and Air passenger environments.
Additionally, CBP measures the amount of time international
passengers wait for CBP processing upon arrival at a U.S. airport. One
of the key wait time measures is the percentage of passengers with wait
times less than or equal to 30 minutes, which has increased slightly
over the last four quarters from 79.0 percent to 80.0 percent.
CBP has also launched the Global Entry program for frequent, low-
risk travelers. Approved participants can use an automated kiosk to
complete the immigration/customs/agriculture requirements. There are
currently over 650,000 travelers eligible to use the program. Global
Entry is active at the USA's twenty busiest international airports.
Global Entry has reduced average wait times for Global Entry users by
more than 70 percent for the participants, with more than 75 percent of
travelers using Global Entry processed in less than 5 minutes. The
Global Entry kiosks have been used over 937,000 times. This equates to
a savings of approximately 15,617 inspectional hours. These hours are
then expended on the normal passenger processing, helping to reduce
overall wait times.
Question 2. What performance metrics currently exist at airports of
entry to ensure effective use of resources?
Answer. CBP continually reviews the performance of personnel and
programs in the airport environment to make sure that we are using our
resources correctly and efficiently. Additionally, CBP closely monitors
wait times and passenger ratios (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent
resident, and nonimmigrant) as these groups require slightly different
processing procedures. CBP is working to develop a workload staffing
model (WSM) to assist in requesting personnel and aligning staffing
levels at the ports of entry. The WSM for CBP officers is expected to
focus on all aspects of CBP processing for passengers and cargo in the
air, land, and sea environments.
The model is expected to assess staffing needs based on workload
data, processing times, complexity, and threat level factors. The WSM
is expected to provide a proposed level of staffing for CBP officers
for each port of entry. The data and factors in the model will provide
guidance regarding the shifts in traveler and trade volumes that change
year over year, processing time changes, effects of transformational
initiatives and other key items that influence the model's assessment
of the number of officers required to manage the workload.
Question 3. As for officer staffing, does CBP have a system in
place which anticipates various staffing needs at ports of entry in
order to properly allocate resources and meet officer demand?
Answer. CBP uses the metrics described above as a notional guide in
the allocation of available resources. As explained below, the model is
under development.
The WSM will not eliminate the judgment of experienced personnel
when making decisions on allocating staff. The model will be a decision
support tool. It will not entirely capture the complexity of the
operations at the ports of entry, and thus cannot completely and
accurately determine resource requirements. Therefore, final decisions
regarding resource allocations will continue to be made in consultation
with operational managers and program managers at the ports of entry
and headquarters.
CBP must take other factors into account when allocating resources,
such as overtime constraints, special enforcement initiatives, wait
times and specific local issues.
The WSM is expected to analyze multiple factors that influence
staffing needs. Some of the operational assumptions and metrics the WSM
is expected to include are:
The workload of key CBP officers;
The level of effort or processing times for carrying out
tasks;
Staffing for supervisors and special targeting or
enforcement teams; and
The expected time away from direct work for holidays, leave,
training and Temporary Duty (TDY).
Question 4. What is the status of the CBP airport staffing model
that has been promised to Congress?
Answer. The model remains under development. When it is finalized,
the model will be provided to additional stakeholders.
Question 5. With regard to customer service issues, I believe it is
in everyone's best interest to ensure that the treatment of
international visitors and returning U.S. citizens is pleasant.
Unfortunately, I often hear complaints from constituents about poor
customer service or treatment by CBP officers and would like to see
that CBP continues to make improvements in this area. I understand that
CBP has processes in place to collect feedback from travelers on their
entry experience through the use of comment cards. How does CBP
currently use the travelers' comments to make improvements in the
process?
Answer. CBP compiles the comment card responses and distributes
them to the field for each port of entry on a monthly basis. Written
comments are reviewed at Headquarters and distributed to the field for
corrective action when necessary.
Question 6. Also, I would be interested in receiving a report from
CBP on traveler feedback--can you please provide the Committee with
that report, with information about the most frequently cited areas of
concern, and any actions the agency has to address these concerns?
Answer. A customer service survey in which over 25,000 travelers
will be interviewed concerning their experience during the arrival
process will be completed over the next 3 months. Results of the survey
are expected to be available before the end of this Fiscal Year.
Question 7. All aspects of the travel experience should be
conducted professionally and with highest level of customer service.
Can you describe the current customer service training in place at CBP?
Have you consulted with the private sector on customer service issues
in the past or would you be willing to work with them to improve
internal training?
Answer. Through the Model Ports Initiative, CBP has developed
additional requirements for the Office of Training and Development,
Field Operations Academy. Modifications were made to the program to
reinforce professionalism and core values throughout the entire basic
academy training program. The changes included the presentation of a
professionalism curriculum, requirements for drill and ceremony (where
the trainees undergo regular uniform and Personal Appearance Standards
inspections), and professionalism topics threaded into every class. The
private sector has been a partner in the Model Ports Initiative.
Outside of the Model Ports Initiative, the Field Operations academy
has not consulted with the private sector to develop or improve
internal customer service training. The basic training program for
CBPOs is accredited by the nationally recognized Federal Law
Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board. To achieve
accreditation, an agency must undergo a voluntary assessment of their
training program to ensure that the program's administration, training
staff, training development, and training delivery meet the highest
standards.
As part of our broader efforts to strengthen customer service, CBP
procured contractors to design, install and implement audio and video
technology in the passport primary queuing area through the Model Ports
program. CBP's informational video, ``Welcome to the United States
`Simple as 1, 2, 3,' '' presents travelers with step-by-step
instructions on what to expect during CBP processing. The video is
subtitled in Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, German, Russian, French,
Chinese and Korean. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts donated a video,
``Welcome: Portraits of America,'' that provides arriving travelers
with welcoming images of the United States. This video is also
available on the U.S. Department of State website and is being shown in
consular offices throughout the world.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Mark Begich to
John Wagner
Question 1. Mr. Wagner, I look forward to working with you toward
facilitating the reintegration of transit programs at our international
airports. Prior to the suspension of ITI and TWOV, Ted Stevens
Anchorage International Airport (ANC) had a long history of
accommodating international transit passengers and would be a logical
airport for a pilot program. During the hearing we discussed the
International-to-International (ITI) program, which previously allowed
international transit passengers to remain in the secure international
transit lounge, without having to obtain a visa or clear U.S. customs.
Given the geographical location of Alaska, the opportunity for
international service has arisen by carriers continuing on to other
destinations or making an en route stop prior to arriving in Alaska.
This is the best viable opportunity for growing international direct
service to our state.
As you mentioned, this program, along with the TransitWithout Visa
(TWOV) program, was suspended in 2003 and now CBP requires all
passengers to have a visa and clear U.S. customs even if they don't
plan to set foot in the U.S. outside of the airport. I am concerned
with the impact the suspension of these programs is having on efforts
to increase international travel to Alaska.
When the program was suspended, CBP and the Dept. of State
indicated an intention to reinstate a system for transit passengers
after additional security measures were in place. During our
discussion, you indicated CBP was not yet comfortable with re-
implementing either program but remains interested in finding a
solution. Is CBP considering alternative processes which would both
allow for passengers to deplane without having to secure a visa and
would provide CBP with the necessary visibility of who is entering the
country?
Answer. The March 2011 Report by the President's Task Force on
Puerto Rico's Status recommended that CBP initiate a resource impact
analysis to assess the DHS facilities, personnel, and information
technology resources that would be required to establish secure in-
transit programs for U.S. airports. Previously, the Departments of
Homeland Security (DHS) and State (DOS) suspended the Transit Without
Visa (TWOV) and International-to-International (ITI) programs on August
2, 2003, due to national security concerns. The action was based on
credible intelligence information concerning specific threats that
could use these programs to circumvent the need for visas to enter the
United States. Unfortunately, those risks continue today.
Under section 7209(d) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act (Pub. L. No. 108-458), the Secretaries of DHS and DOS
may not waive travel document requirements for aliens proceeding in
transit through the United States until they implement a security plan
for secure transit passage areas to prevent aliens from illegally
entering the United States.
Question 2. What types of outreach has CBP engaged in with air
carriers and airports in an effort to accommodate international transit
passengers?
Answer. Since August 2, 2003, CBP has allowed carriers who meet
specific conditions to exercise special transit procedures (STP) at
particular ports of entry. Ports currently using this process include
Dallas, Los Angeles and Houston. The special transit procedures
facilitate passengers in transit, but do not waive any of the required
entry and travel documents.
Question 3. What criteria do airports and carriers need to meet
which would eliminate the security risks that led to a suspension of
ITI and TWOV?
Answer. The criteria that need to be met include providing the same
information found in existing entry and documentary requirements.
Question 4. Almost 8 years have elapsed since ITI and TWOV were
suspended. What is CBP's timeline for establishing a pilot program or
process to reintegrate transit passengers at U.S. airports?
Answer. The national security concerns identified in 2003 remain
concerns today. CBP has established secure transit procedures at
designated airports that facilitate passengers in transit.
The March 2011 Report by the President's Task Force on Puerto
Rico's Status recommended that CBP initiate a resource impact analysis
to assess the DHS facilities, personnel, and information technology
resources that would be required to establish secure in-transit
programs for U.S. airports.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to
John Wagner
Question 1. The entry process is the first experience for
international visitors on U.S. soil and can greatly impact a traveler's
first impressions of the U.S. A negative experience with long wait
times and poor customer service can influence their future travel
decisions and further perpetuate America's negative image as of a
difficult travel destination. Conversely, a smooth and welcoming
process could have a positive impact on U.S. diplomatic efforts world-
wide as visitors return home and share their experience with their
peers. This is particularly true for influential visitors that travel
internationally frequently for meetings and events on behalf of high
profile international organizations or corporations.
Since its implementation, the Global Entry program has vastly
improved the entry process for pre-cleared U.S. citizens and
international travelers from a select few countries. Does the
Department have any plans to expand the Global Entry program beyond its
current enrollment options?
Answer. Yes, the Department has plans to expand the Global Entry
program beyond its current enrollment options. U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) recently expanded Global Entry participation to
qualified Mexican nationals, as well as citizens & residents of Canada
through the NEXUS program. Eligible SENTRI program members have also
been granted Global Entry benefits. CBP has signed Joint Statements
declaring the intention to develop trusted traveler arrangements with
the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Republic of Korea.
In addition, CBP works with the private sector to expand enrollment
opportunities. CBP offers companies the opportunity to hold mobile
enrollment events, where CBP goes to corporate offices and conducts
Global Entry interviews. CBP has also worked with American Express and
with several airlines--including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines,
United Airlines, and Continental Airlines--to promote the program.
Question 2. Notably, would you consider offering Global Entry
enrollment to certain groups of foreign citizens of key international
organizations and/or key business people of critical significance to
our export economy?
Answer. CBP is strategically engaging countries to develop trusted
traveler arrangements. CBP has reached out to those countries with the
highest numbers of frequent international travelers to the U.S.
CBP is open to other discussions and would welcome any suggestions
or recommendations regarding other partners to approach.
Question 3. The President has proposed a goal for the U.S. to
double its exports by 2015. This goal includes increasing service
exports such as international travel to the U.S. The Commerce
Department is projecting that there will be a 25 percent increase in
overseas visitors between 2009 and 2015 most of which will come through
our airports. At a time when agencies are being asked to do more with
fewer resources it is critical to increase accountability and
transparency to make certain CBP is operating in the most efficient
manner in meeting this potential surge in arrivals at airports. Has CBP
discussed the arrival projections with the Department of Commerce? What
role does interagency planning play in projecting what resources CBP
will need to meet this surge in arrivals while maintaining its goal to
process visitors in under 30 minutes?
Answer. CBP works very closely with the Department of Commerce
(Commerce). Many of the statistics that Commerce uses in their
estimates come from arrival/departure information from CBP. We also
work closely with Commerce on tourism and travel promotion, in projects
like the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, the Corporation for Travel
Promotion and the Interagency working group at the White House.
Interagency planning will also be critical moving forward as a change
in one part of the stream of visitors can adversely impact another
stakeholder downstream.
We are aware that Commerce is projecting an increase in overseas
visitors and continue to work with our stakeholders to address the
expected volume of passengers with our current resources and
infrastructure. For example, CBP has recently met with air carriers at
several major airports to discuss scheduling issues with flights and
CBP personnel. We look forward to that continued support in dealing
with our mutual priorities.
CBP has recently started three new innovative programs with
stakeholders that could help deal with the increase in passengers
arriving in the U.S. ``One-Stop,'' which started in Houston, provides
designated primary inspection lanes for international travelers
arriving with no checked baggage, thereby allowing them to bypass the
baggage carousels and exit quickly. Another innovative program is
``Express Connection'' which designates inspection lanes specifically
for those travelers with closely scheduled connecting flights. This
program has the potential to save air carriers between $2.2 million and
$5 million dollars a year.
CBP has also launched the Global Entry program for frequent, low-
risk travelers. Approved participants can use an automated kiosk to
complete the immigration/customs/agriculture requirements. There are
currently over 650,000 travelers eligible to use the program. Global
Entry is active at the USA's twenty busiest international airports.
Global Entry has reduced average wait times for Global Entry users by
more than 70 percent for the participants, with more than 75 percent of
travelers using Global Entry processed in less than 5 minutes. The
Global Entry kiosks have been used over 937,000 times. This equates to
a savings of approximately 15,617 inspectional hours. These hours are
then expended on the normal passenger processing, helping to reduce
overall wait times.
Question 4. The Model Ports of Entry program has seen slow growth
since the expansion to the top 20 airports in 2007. This initiative was
developed to improve and expedite the entry experience for foreign
visitors and returning U.S. citizens. Can you explain what constitutes
a ``Model Port'' and why has implementation been slow despite
stakeholder commitment and appropriated funding for the program?
Answer. A ``Model Port'' is a partnership with industry
stakeholders to improve signage, brochures, instructional videos and
technology such as the Global Entry program to expedite trusted
travelers. Congress approved a one-time appropriation of $40 million in
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-161). The
appropriation was made for CBP to expand the Model Ports initiative to
the largest 20 international airports by volume of visitors and hire
200 additional CBP officers. CBP allocated the funding for the
additional 200 CBP officer positions, overtime at model ports locations
and model ports equipment and services such as audio and visual
distribution systems, information technology costs, posters and
signage.
CBP deployed improved signage to the Model Ports that is clear,
concise, and understood by most international travelers; revised and
updated CBP's informational video, Welcome to the United States
``Simple as 1, 2, 3'' in FY 2010 to reflect the elimination of the I-
94W and included subtitles in eight languages: Arabic, Spanish,
Japanese, German, Russian, French, Chinese and Korean; implemented the
use of special service representatives to aid in directing travelers to
open CBP primary booths and partnered with airline representatives to
ensure CBP forms are completed prior to arrival in the processing area.
Additionally, CBP worked with the airport authorities or terminal
operators to successfully design and install audio and video technology
in the passport primary queuing area at the 20 model ports. The final
project deployed over 200 monitors to 36 passport primary inspection
areas and is seen by over 25 million visitors to the United States.
CBP has developed additional requirements for the Office of Field
Operations Basic Academy. Modifications were made to the program to
reinforce professionalism and core values throughout the entire basic
academy training program. The changes included the presentation of a
professionalism curriculum, requirements for drill and ceremony (where
the trainees undergo regular uniform and Personal Appearance Standards
inspections), and professionalism topics threaded into every class.
Since the establishment of the Model Ports Initiative in 2008, CBP
has made improvements in various aspects to elevate the program to the
next level of service. CBP has worked with its stakeholders to develop
and implement processes and programs to improve the arrivals experience
for international travelers. Some of those improvements include
``Express Connection,'' ``One Stop'' and the expansion of Global Entry.
The ``Express Connection'' pilot at Chicago O'Hare, JFK, Atlanta-
Hartsfield, Boston Logan, and Miami International Airports provides a
special lane for expedited processing during peak international flight
arrival hours for pre-selected passengers with connection times of 80
minutes or less.
The ``One Stop'' pilot at the Houston Intercontinental Airport
enables pre-selected passengers with only carry-on luggage to receive
full CBP processing at the primary booth, and then directly exit the
facility through a dedicated exit point, rather than queuing up at the
CBP baggage checkpoint.
The Global Entry program is one of the key features of the Model
Ports Initiative and has been operating under pilot program authority
since 2008. DHS anticipates establishing Global Entry as an ongoing
program and expanding the program to additional airports.
Currently, CBP has arrangements with the Governments of the
Netherlands, and Mexico. Canadian citizens and residents can acquire
Global Entry benefits through membership in the NEXUS program. CBP has
signed joint statements of intent with the United Kingdom (UK),
Germany, and South Korea. There are over 650,000 trusted traveler
members with Global Entry benefits.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
Roger Dow
Question. I am pleased to hear of the recommendations implemented
to help make U.S. passport and customs control areas at airports more
inviting, including adoption of a welcome video produced by Disney.
Could you speak about any lessons learned from this experience that
might also apply to creating a welcoming, inviting first impression at
Canadian and Mexican border crossings where travelers arrive by car?
Answer. Since 2006, we have collaborated with U.S. Customs and
Border Protection officials to offer strategic advice from private-
sector experts on industry best-practices to help improve customer
service and increase efficiency in traveler facilitation at our
borders. One of recommendations that CBP has implemented quite
effectively is the Global Entry Program to fast-track previously-vetted
Americans and selected international visitors returning from
international trips. Another, as you pointed out, is the Disney-
produced welcome video that is now played at all major international
U.S. airports.
Regarding your specific question, it may be difficult to show a
welcome video at land ports of entry from Canada and Mexico, we believe
the spirit of this approach can be applied to other aspects of CPB
customer service at both land and airport. Some of the most obvious
steps are simple and economical.. For instance, it is our view that
land border entries could be improved by:
1. Directing CPB officers to greet passengers visitors at
primary inspections with the following greeting ``Welcome to
the U.S.''
2. Developing comprehensive CBP customer service reports and
including them in the Air Travel Consumer Report issued by
Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation Enforcement
and Proceedings.
3. Establishing baseline metrics to measure the improvements in
passenger facilitation and customer service performance of CBP
Officers.
Each of these reforms could be implemented quickly and at little or
no cost; would increase management efficiency in facilitating the entry
process; and would yield public diplomacy benefits by enhancing the
entry experience for overseas visitors who will describe their
impressions upon their return home. Toward this end, we will continue
our partnership with CBP to ensure that additional progress is made
both at land and air points of entry--and appreciate your continued
interest in these objectives.
JLW___
Written Question Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
Stephen J. Cloobeck
Question. One of the CTP's goals is to ensure that the benefits of
tourism are spread amongst the states and amongst urban and rural
areas. How will the CTP ensure that the benefits of tourism reach rural
states such as New Mexico?
[The witness did not respond.]
______
Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Mark Warner to
Stephen J. Cloobeck
Question 1. One of the major provisions of the Travel Promotion Act
of 2009 was the creation of the Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP),
which is tasked with executing a plan ``to ensure that international
travel benefits all States and the District of Columbia and to identify
opportunities and strategies to promote tourism to rural and urban
areas equally, including areas not traditionally visited by
international travelers.'' Virginia offers tourism opportunities that
span the full range from urban--such as the sites in Richmond on the
Civil War Trail--to rural, including the Crooked Road heritage music
trail in Southwest Virginia. What is the CTP doing to maintain the
appropriate balance in promoting the variety of travel opportunities
across the U.S.?
[The witness did not respond.]
Question 2. Section 203 of the Travel Promotion Act requires that
the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries expand and continue its
research and development activities, including ``expanding the number
of inbound air travelers sampled by the Commerce Department's Survey of
International Travelers to reach a 1 percent sample size and revising
the design and format of questionnaires to accommodate a new survey
instrument, improve response rates to at least double the number of
States and cities with reliable international visitor estimates and
improve market coverage.'' Data provided by this survey is an important
source of information for state tourism agencies, allowing them to make
informed decisions in how to use limited marketing funds.
Implementation of the survey is currently underfunded. Would it be
possible to develop a public/private partnership to share the increased
costs of the data collection to increase the sample size?
[The witness did not respond.]
______
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board
Travel Facilitation Subcommittee
February 1, 2011--Presentation to Hon. Gary Locke, Secretary of
Commerce
Creating 500,000 new jobs and generating USD 60 billion in
additional exports annually by facilitating international travel to the
United States
Members of the Travel Facilitation Subcommittee of the Travel and
Tourism Advisory Board
Chairman: Hubert Joly, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Carlson
Vice Chair: Holly Agra, President, Chicago's First Lady Cruises
Richard Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, Delta Airlines, Inc.
Nicholas Calderazzo, Vice President Sales and Marketing, RMP
Travel
John Klein, Chief Executive Officer, Premium Outlets, a
division of Simon Property Group
Gina Marie Lindsey, Executive Director, Los Angeles World
Airports
John Sprouls, Chief Executive Officer, Universal Orlando
Resort, and Executive Vice President, Universal Parks and
Resorts
Perry John P. Tenorio, Managing Director, Marianas Visitors
Authority
Main agencies and organizations consulted as part of committee's work
U.S. Department of Commerce
Helen N. Marano, Director, Office of Travel and Tourism
Industries
Michael Masseman, Director, Office of Advisory Committees
Jennifer Pilat, Deputy Director, Office of Advisory
Committees--International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Douglas A. Smith, Assistant Secretary for the Private Sector
Bridger McGaw, Director, Office of Private Sector
Adrienne C. Wong, Policy Analyst, Private Sector Office
U.S. Department of State
Patrick Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management
Janice Jacobs, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular
Affairs
David Donahue, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services,
Consular Affairs
Edward Ramotowski, Managing Director, Office of Visa Services
U.S. Travel Association
Roger Dow, President and CEO
Patricia Rojas, Vice President, Government Relations
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Randel Johnson, Senior Vice President, Labor, Immigration and
Employee Benefits
American Hotel & Lodging Association
Joe McInerney, President and CEO
Marlene Colucci, Executive Vice President, Public Policy
Introduction
In January 2010, President Obama established the goal to
``double the country's exports over the next 5 years, an
increase that will support two million jobs in America.''
Facilitating international travel to the United States
offers the opportunity to contribute to this goal in a major
way. Recapturing the market share that the U.S. has lost over
the last 10 years and growing with the market would create up
to 500,000 new jobs, i.e., a quarter of the President's target.
In addition, international travel to the U.S. indirectly
contributes to exports, as some of these visitors decide to
acquire U.S. products and services when they visit trade shows
and/or potential suppliers.
The administration and Congress understand the importance of
international travel to the U.S., as they have been working
together for example to adopt and then to implement the Travel
Promotion Act. Building on this, the Administration has the
opportunity to make a significant difference in this area by
addressing two issues:
--Continuing to improve the visa process for visitors from key
emerging countries, most notably China, India and Brazil;
--Enhancing the process for overseas international visitors as they
go through the country's borders.
The purpose of this document is to provide a summary of the
findings and recommendations of the Travel Facilitation Sub-
Committee of the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board established
by Secretary Locke.
This document covers three main points:
1. The U.S. has the opportunity to create up to 500,000 new
jobs and generate up to USD 60 billion in additional exports
annually if it can recapture its lost market share of overseas
international travel by 2015, or, said differently, if it can
grow the number of international visitors from overseas from
23.8 million in 2009 to 40 million in 2015. Irrespective of the
target that one would like to select, it should be noted that
each additional million international visitors from overseas
generates USD 3.2 billion in additional exports and creates
27,000 new jobs;
2. Challenges with visas and the experience crossing the
country's borders are important obstacles to travel to the U.S.
At a time when the country is in the process of beginning to
promote travel to the U.S. in international markets, it seems
quite appropriate to address these obstacles;
3. Addressing the visa and customer service experience related
issues can be done through a few measures at minimal net direct
cost to the U.S. tax-payers and an effective partnership with
the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security,
Congress, local airport authorities and the travel and tourism
industry.
In summary, the Travel Facilitation sub-committee has the following
seven recommendations to address the key visa-related issues. The first
four recommendations are focused on improving the quality of service as
it relates to visa processing. The following three recommendations
would drastically reduce the need for in-person interviews for visa
processing, which is a major source of issues and workload today.
Recommendation number 1: Establish a maximum wait time of 5
days for visa processing to make it competitive with the
European countries
Recommendation number 2: Add a few hundred officers in visa
processing centers in key emerging countries to reduce wait
time and meet growing demand
Recommendation number 3: Add 4-6 visa processing locations each
in China, Brazil and India
Recommendation number 4: Enable the State Department to retain
all the visa processing and consular fees to cover the costs of
its consular staffing and visa processing activities
Recommendation number 5: Increase the validity of non-immigrant
visas for Chinese visitors to 10 years
Recommendation number 6: Give the State Department more
discretion as it relates to in-person interviews
Recommendation number 7: Restore the ability of the Secretary
of Homeland Security to admit countries into the Visa Waiver
Program (VWP) with a refusal rate of 10 percent or less by
decoupling the air exit requirement from the VWP. Work with key
strategic partners to facilitate their entry into the program.
The Travel Facilitation sub-committee has three recommendations to
address the issues related to the customer service experience at the
nation's borders:
1. Establish a goal for wait time at international airports and
cruise terminals of less than 20 minutes and measure the
performance against that goal;
2. Strengthen the implementation of the Model Ports of Entry
program, through an increased staffing flexibility and customer
service focus and through a public/private partnership
established at each model port (``Adopt an airport program'');
3. Ramp up the Global Entry Program for U.S. citizens,
permanent residents, and trusted international visitors to
reach a number of participants sufficient to materially reduce
the workload of the Customs and Border Protection officers (10
million?).
Finally, the Committee suggests a number of steps to accelerate
progress and follow through on these recommendations:
1. Organize early in 2011 a joint meeting of President Obama
with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of Homeland Security focused setting the goal of
achieving more than 40 million international overseas visitors
per year by 2015 and taking the measures necessary to
facilitate international travel to the U.S.;
2. Ensure the participation of President Obama and Secretary
Locke at the World Travel and Tourism Summit to be held in Las
Vegas on May 17-19, 2011, which can provide a great platform
for the administration to send the right message to the world;
3. Establish a public/private partnership or working group with
the mission to drive progress in the implementation of the
above recommendations and toward the goal of achieving more
than 40 million international overseas visitors per year by
2015.
This document covers three main points:
1. The U.S. has the opportunity to create up to 500,000 new
jobs and generate up to USD 60 billion in additional exports
annually if it can recapture its lost market share of overseas
international travel by 2015, or, said differently, if it can
grow the number of international visitors from overseas from
23.8 million in 2009 to 40 million in 2015. Irrespective of the
target that one would like to select, it should be noted that
each additional million international visitors from overseas
generates USD 3.2 billion in additional exports and creates
27,000 new jobs;
2. Challenges with visas and the experience crossing the
country's borders are important obstacles to travel to the U.S.
At a time when the country is in the process of beginning to
promote travel to the U.S. in international markets, it seems
quite appropriate to address these obstacles;
3. Addressing the visa and customer service experience related
issues can be done through a few measures at minimal net direct
cost to the U.S. tax-payers and an effective partnership with
the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security,
Congress, local airport authorities and the travel & tourism
industry.
The U.S. has the opportunity to create up to 500,000 new jobs and
generate up to USD 60 billion in additional exports annually if it can
recapture its lost market share of overseas international travel by
2015.
International travel to the U.S. is already a major source
of exports and jobs today:
--In 2009, there were 23.8 million overseas arrivals in the U.S.
These overseas visitors generated USD 75
billion in spending in the country (excluding
international air travel), . . .
. . . representing about 700,000 jobs
--In addition, international travel to the U.S. indirectly
contributes to exports, as some of these visitors decide to
acquire U.S. products and services when they visit trade
shows and/or potential suppliers.
However, the U.S. has lost a third of its market share in
the last 10 years. Particularly noteworthy for the future is
the fact that the U.S. performance has lost ground in the key
BRIC countries who represent the fastest growing part of the
world's economy and of the international travel market.
The value to the U.S. economy of recapturing the lost market
share of international travel is the creation of up to 500,000
new jobs and the generation of up to USD 60 billion in
additional exports annually.
International travel to the U.S. is already a major source of exports
and jobs today
Contribution of international travel to the U.S. economy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Impact of total travel
and tourism industry in Long-haul international
the U.S.\2\ travel to the U.S.\2\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spending USD 704 billion \1\ USD 75 billion \1\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jobs 7.4 million 700,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Excluding international passenger fares
\2\ U.S Travel Association, 2009 data
In addition, international travel to the U.S. indirectly contributes to
exports, as some of these visitors decide to acquire U.S.
products and services when they visit trade shows and/or
potential suppliers.
Leisure travelers benefit a wide range of businesses when they visit
the U.S.
Percent of Visitors
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total India Australia Brazil Korea China
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visiting amusement parks 47% 48% 43% 51% 47% 44%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visiting historic sites 44% 42% 46% 48% 49% 33%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visiting Parks: National, State, etc. 42% 39% 42% 39% 39% 52%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visiting art or cultural Museums, Art 41% 33% 35% 48% 49% 41%
Exhibits, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visiting zoos, aquariums or science 38% 31% 44% 48% 38% 31%
museums
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique dining experience 38% 47% 35% 31% 51% 24%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attending Concerts, Theatre, Dance, etc. 34% 31% 28% 44% 40% 29%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shopping at an outlet mall 30% 33% 24% 34% 31% 29%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shopping at individual retail stores 28% 14% 12% 42% 35% 38%
that were not part of a mall
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shopping in a mall 25% 24% 20% 27% 22% 33%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visiting a museum store 25% 26% 22% 22% 21% 35%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shopping at a museum store 13% 19% 9% 12% 9% 17%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Mandala Research commissioned by Shop America and Macy's
Total respondents n = 2,500
The U.S. has lost a third of its market share in the last 10 years.
While part of the market share loss can be explained by competition
from an increasingly diverse set of countries, it is striking that most
of the market share loss happened in the 2001-2 time frame, coinciding
with heightened security concerns by the U.S.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Travel & Tourism
Industries and Tourism Economics (OTTI)
Compared to 25.9 million in 2000, the U.S. would have had 34
million overseas visitors in 2009 instead of 23.8 million if it had
held share, i.e., almost 50 percent more.
Source: U.S. Travel Association (USTA), Tourism Economics, Office
of Travel & Tourism Industries and Tourism Economics (OTTI)
The BRIC countries in general and Asia in particular represent a
major, fast growing part of the world's economy and of the
international travel market.
--As a group, the GDP of the BRIC countries is expected to
represent 20 percent of the world's GDP in 2014 versus 15
percent in 2009 and 7 percent in 1999.
--The middle-class of China and India will soon reach several
hundred million individuals with a purchasing power
comparable to that of the developed countries, many of whom
are and will be eager to travel internationally.
Source: IMF
A report developed by Oxford Economics commissioned by Amadeus
indicates that Asia will account for 32 percent of global travel spend
in 2020, up from 21 percent today.
Source: Oxford Economics
This represents a dual opportunity for the United States: the
opportunity to sell U.S. products and services to these countries; and
the opportunity to attract visitors from these countries who are
interested in visiting the United States as tourists or as business
people. It is critical that the United States does not miss this
opportunity.
Yet, the U.S. has lost ground over the last 10 years with each one
of the BRIC countries. As an example, the number of annual visits from
China to Europe is around 3 million versus 500,000 to the U.S. Similar
gaps exist for the other BRIC countries.
Source: U.S. Travel Association (USTA)
The U.S. has the opportunity to create up to 500,000 new jobs and
generate up to USD 60 billion in additional exports annually if it can
recapture its lost market share of overseas international travel by
2015.
Note: The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries forecasts 36.7
million international travelers to the U.S. from overseas in 2015.
Source: Oxford Economics and U.S. Travel Association (USTA)
This document covers three main points:
1. The U.S. has the opportunity to create up to 500,000 new
jobs and generate up to USD 60 billion in additional exports
annually if it can recapture its lost market share of overseas
international travel by 2015, or, said differently, if it can
grow the number of international visitors from overseas from
23.8 million in 2009 to 40 million in 2015. Irrespective of the
target that one would like to select, it should be noted that
each additional million international visitors from overseas
generates USD 3.2 billion in additional exports and creates
27,000 new jobs;
2. Challenges with visas and the experience crossing the
country's borders are important obstacles to travel to the U.S.
At a time when the country is in the process of beginning to
promote travel to the U.S. in international markets, it seems
quite appropriate to address these obstacles;
3. Addressing the visa and customer service experience related
issues can be done through a few measures at minimal net direct
cost to the U.S. tax-payers and an effective partnership with
the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security,
Congress, local airport authorities and the travel & tourism
industry.
Challenges with visas and the experience crossing the country's
borders are important obstacles to travel to the U.S. At a time when
the country is in the process of beginning to promote travel to the
U.S. in international markets, it seems quite appropriate to address
these obstacles.
While it would be inappropriate to assume that the visa wait
time and travel required to a visa processing center are the
only drivers of the difference in number of visitors, every
element counts.
Specifically, as the global economy becomes more integrated,
being able to fly to and from the key partners of the global
economy--at short notice and efficiently--becomes increasingly
important.
Source: Discover America Partnership
Source: Discover America Partnership
Visa and security related issues are major obstacles to travel to
the U.S. for Chinese, Indian, and Brazilian travelers.
Source: Mandala Research
Today, while some of the issue may be perception versus reality,
and while some progress may have recently been accomplished, the U.S.
does suffer from a real performance gap as it relates to the way it
treats potential visitors. As an example, a Chinese citizen wanting to
travel to the United States needs to wait several weeks to have an
appointment for the required in-person interview. This compares to 5-12
calendar days for a trip to a European country. This is quite an
obstacle.
Note:
1. U.S. is typical wait time for visa appointment plus processing
time
2. U.K. is processing time for 80 percent of applications to be
processed
Wait time performance can be erratic and particularly high at
times.
Source: Consular Consolidated Database
An aggravating factor is the fact that the United States has visa
processing centers in only five cities, compared to 12 for the United
Kingdom.
As a result, there are 10 cities in China with more than 2 million
urban inhabitants who do not have a U.S. visa processing center.
While another visa-related issue has been the high refusal rate
experienced by prospective Chinese travelers, it has been declining
sharply in the last 3 years.
Source: U.S. Department of State database
Anecdotal evidence highlights missed opportunities.
``As the lead agency for the international business development in
Illinois, the most daunting challenge is to see the potential investors
fail their visa interviews at the U.S. Consulates and Embassy in China.
At last month's International Machine Tool Show I saw a booth with
brochures and exhibits but no one manned the booth because the
manufacturer from China didn't get visa approvals at the U.S. Embassy
in Beijing for its sales people. It was a big loss for the company
because they paid the full fare for the booth and other related cost.
In May this year, when Chicago and Illinois hosted the 2010 BIO
Conference at Chicago's McCormick Place, China had planned to send a
delegation for 400 business leaders but only about 70 were able to get
their visas.''
``Still another example, China's National Reform Commission and its
affiliated National Investment Association has been working on an
investment project to send about 200 Chinese companies to invest in
Illinois. The State of Illinois Office of Trade and Investment hosted
the Chinese organization in Chicago. They signed an agreement with the
O'Hare Lake Office Park for a lease of over 400,000 square feet office
space for 100 in-coming companies.
The first two companies on this project got their visas denied at
the U.S. Embassy on September 21 and 24 respectively and here is the
dialogue between the visa officers and the visa applicants:
Applicant number one----
Question: Have you ever been to the U.S.?
Answer: No.
Question: Do you have relatives in the U.S.?
Answer: No.
Applicant number two----
Question: How much is your monthly salary?
Answer: 38,000 RMB
Questions: How many employees do you have in your
company?
Answer: 60
The visa officer denied the visa and refuse to give a reason.
Situations like such are numerous and shocking. It make it from
very difficult to nearly impossible for Illinois' FDI promotion in
China.''
``We have had employees from China and India decide not to accept a
U.S. assignment because a family member was unable to accompany them
after a visa was denied. In those cases, we have no clear understanding
as to why the visas were not issued.''
As relates to Brazil, the competitive issue is even more serious.
The European Schengen countries do not require a visa for Brazilian
citizens to visit them. In contrast, a Brazilian citizen will need to
make an appointment at one of four U.S. visa processing centers and
wait several months for that appointment (wait times in Brazil have
been quite high).
Note:
(1) U.S. is typical wait time for visa appointment plus processing
time
(2) U.K. is processing time for 80 percent of applications to be
processed
Wait times in Brazil have been quite high and erratic.
There are nine cities in Brazil with more than one million
inhabitants without a U.S. visa processing center.
This means that a trip to the United States often requires a
Brazilian citizen to make two trips if he or she wants to travel to the
U.S.--one trip to a city with a visa processing center and then the
trip to the U.S. itself. This is an expensive and cumbersome process.
The situation of wait times is somewhat better in India, although
quite uneven across visa processing centers.
However, the number of U.S. visa processing centers is five
compared to 11 for the U.K.
Note:
(1) U.S. is typical wait time for visa appointment plus processing
time
(2) U.K. is processing time for 80 percent of applications to be
processed
The situation of wait times is somewhat better in India, although
quite uneven across visa processing centers
However, the number of U.S. visa processing centers is five
compared to 11 for the U.K.
As a result, there are eight cities in India with more than two
million inhabitants who do not have a U.S. visa processing center.
The experience of international visitors at the country's borders
is also a source of concern for two main reasons:
--the general perception of international visitors as relates to
processing time and the way they may be treated at the border
is quite mixed;
--in addition, delays in passenger screening is the major cause of
missed international connections, which is a significant source
of loss for U.S. airlines.
In 2009, 39 percent of overseas travelers to the U.S. waited more
than 30 minutes to be cleared through immigration at the nation's
airports. This compares with 24 percent in 2000.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce survey of international
travelers
Actual wait times tend to vary widely during the day.
Actual wait times tend to vary widely across airports and peaks can
be quite extreme.
\1\ Longest processing time in minutes to process a passenger on
any given flight in a 24 hour period
\2\ Longest average processing time in minutes to process a
passenger on any given flight in a 24 hour period
This document covers three main points:
1. The U.S. has the opportunity to create up to 500,000 new
jobs and generate up to USD 60 billion in additional exports
annually if it can recapture its lost market share of overseas
international travel by 2015, or, said differently, if it can
grow the number of international visitors from overseas from
23.8 million in 2009 to 40 million in 2015. Irrespective of the
target that one would like to select, it should be noted that
each additional million international visitors from overseas
generates USD 3.2 billion in additional exports and creates
27,000 new jobs;
2. Challenges with visas and the experience crossing the
country's borders are important obstacles to travel to the U.S.
At a time when the country is in the process of beginning to
promote travel to the U.S. in international markets, it seems
quite appropriate to address these obstacles;
3. Addressing the visa and customer service experience related
issues can be done through a few measures at minimal net direct
cost to the U.S. tax-payers and an effective partnership with
the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security,
Congress, local airport authorities and the travel and tourism
industry.
It should first be noted that a number of efforts have been
initiated by the administration and Congress to address some of the
visa and border issues.
Recent Efforts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Global entry The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency
(CBP) initiated the Global Entry Program in
2004.
Model airport In 2006, the U.S. Administration launched a
pilot ``model airport program.''
Initiated collaborative local airport
initiatives, e.g., in Orlando, Atlanta and Los
Angeles.
Visa waiver program With the addition of Greece in 2010, 26
countries are now included in the visa waiver
program.
Travel Promotion Act The Travel Promotion Act was signed by the
President on March 4, 2010.
Visa processing In 2010, the State Department established a
task force to address visa issues in China.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Global Entry
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has
initiated in 2004 the Global Entry program, a solution that
provides frequent low-risk travelers expedited processing
through U.S. immigration checkpoints. Global Entry applicants
are vetted by CBP through a name-based and biometric security
review, as well as a personal interview.
Once admitted into the program, participants entering the U.S.
utilize automated kiosks located in the CBP inspection area to
move through the inspection process without undergoing a
person-to-person CBP interview.
The program launched on June 6, 2008, at JFK International
Airport and today the following 20 airports serve as global
entry enrollment and processing locations: Atlanta, Boston,
Chicago O'Hare, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.;
Honolulu, Houston International, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami,
Newark, N.J.; Orlando (Sanford), Fla.; Philadelphia, San Juan,
P.R.; San Francisco, Seattle, Washington Dulles, and additional
JFK terminals.
Though the program was launched originally without a start-
up appropriation, the House Homeland Security Appropriations
Subcommittee provided USD 10 million in FY09 for Global Entry
to promote its expansion.
As of today, approximately 100,000 individuals have been
enrolled in the program, and Global Entry members have used the
kiosks approximately 600,000 times.
In addition to being available to U.S. citizens and legal
permanent residents, CBP concluded an agreement in April 2009
with its counterpart in the Netherlands to harmonize Global
Entry with their international trusted traveler program. The
U.S. and Mexico recently signed a MOU to expand Global Entry to
Mexican nationals. Additional agreements with other interested
countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan
are under discussion and would allow nationals from these
countries to use the Global Entry program in the U.S.
Model Airport
In January 2006, then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
and then Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
created a pilot ``model airport'' program to reduce passenger
processing wait times and establish a more welcoming
environment at inspection areas for travelers.
The pilot program was subsequently launched at Houston's
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Washington
Dulles International Airport (IAD).
In 2007, Congress fully authorized a Model Ports Program and
appropriated USD 40 million to expand it to the 20 U.S.
airports with the highest number of inbound international
visitors and hire no fewer than 200 new Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) officers at these model airports.
With the addition of Greece in 2010, 36 countries are now included
in the visa waiver program
Visa Waiver Countries:
Andorra Hungary New Zealand
Australia Iceland Norway
Austria Ireland Portugal
Belgium Italy San Marino
Brunei Japan Singapore
Czech Republic Latvia Slovakia
Denmark Liechtenstein Slovenia
Estonia Lithuania South Korea
Finland Luxembourg Spain
France Malta Sweden
Germany Monaco Switzerland
Greece The Netherlands United Kingdom
Source: travel.state.gov
Visa Issues--Example
Ambassador Janice Jacobs, the Assistant Secretary
responsible for consular affairs, has established an internal
task force to drastically increase the ability of the State
Department to process visas from emerging countries, starting
with China.
A number of measures have been taken to improve performance
in the short term, including opening certain centers on a
number of Saturdays. As a result, significant wait time
reductions have been accomplished in China, even though they
are not yet at competitive levels.
In summary, the Travel Facilitation sub-committee has the following
seven recommendations to address the key visa-related issues. The first
four recommendations are focused on improving the quality of service as
it relates to visa processing. The following three recommendations
would drastically reduce the need for in-person interviews for visa
processing, which is a major source of issues and workload today.
Recommendation number 1: Establish a maximum wait time of 5
days for visa processing to make it competitive with the
European countries
Recommendation number 2: Add a few hundred officers in visa
processing centers in key emerging countries to reduce wait
time and meet growing demand
Recommendation number 3: Add 4-6 visa processing locations each
in China, Brazil and India
Recommendation number 4: Enable the State Department to retain
all the visa processing and consular fees to cover the costs of
its consular staffing and visa processing activities
Recommendation number 5: Increase the validity of non-immigrant
visas for Chinese visitors to 10 years
Recommendation number 6: Give the State Department more
discretion as it relates to in-person interviews
Recommendation number 7: Restore the ability of the Secretary
of Homeland Security to admit countries into the Visa Waiver
Program (VWP) with a refusal rate of 10 percent or less by
decoupling the air exit requirement from the VWP. Work with key
strategic partners to facilitate their entry into the program.
The Travel Facilitation sub-committee has three recommendations to
address the issues related to the customer service experience at the
nation's borders:
1. Establish a goal for wait time at international airports and
cruise terminals of less than 20 minutes and measure the
performance against that goal;
2. Strengthen the implementation of the Model Ports of Entry
program, through an increased staffing flexibility and customer
service focus and through a public/private partnership
established at each model port (``Adopt an airport program'');
3. Ramp up the Global Entry Program for U.S. citizens,
permanent residents, and trusted international visitors to
reach a number of participants sufficient to materially reduce
the workload of the Customs and Border Protection officers (10
million?).
Finally, the Committee suggests a number of steps to accelerate
progress and follow through on these recommendations:
1. Organize early in 2011 a joint meeting of President Obama
with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of Homeland Security focused setting the goal of
achieving more than 40 million international overseas visitors
per year by 2015 and taking the measures necessary to
facilitate international travel to the U.S.;
2. Ensure the participation of President Obama and Secretary
Locke at the World Travel and Tourism Summit to be held in Las
Vegas on May 17-19, 2011, which can provide a great platform
for the administration to send the right message to the world;
3. Establish a public/private partnership or working group with
the mission to drive progress in the implementation of the
above recommendations and toward the goal of achieving more
than 40 million international overseas visitors per year by
2015.
The goal: increase the number of international overseas visitors to
the U.S. to more than 40 million by 2015.
Note: The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries forecasts 36.7
million international travelers to the U.S. from overseas in 2015.
Source: Oxford Economics and U.S. Travel Association (USTA)
Recommendation number 1: Work with the Secretary of State to
establish a target wait time for visa processing that would be
competitive and adequate. A maximum wait time of 5 days would seem
appropriate to make it competitive with the European countries.
Out of the 222 overseas posts that the State Department
operates, the wait time for an in-person interview was less
than 7 days at 164 posts. However, the wait time in China,
Brazil, and to a lesser extent India, have tended to be quite
long (i.e., several weeks) and significantly higher than the
wait times for the countries that the U.S. is competing with.
Reducing the wait time in these critically important countries
to 5 days would help make travel to the U.S. more competitive.
Note:
(1) U.S. is typical wait time for visa appointment plus processing
time
(2) U.K. is processing time for 80 percent of applications to be
processed
Recommendation number 2: Encourage the State Department to quickly
ramp up the staffing of visa processing centers in key emerging
countries by a few hundred officers.
--A ballpark figure for incremental staffing is a few hundred
officers. Across China and Brazil, 500-600 additional
officers would seem sufficient to meet the growing demand
and reduce wait times.
--The cost to the U.S. tax-payers of adding these resources is non-
existent as each officer generates about USD 1.5 million in
fees per year.
--According to the State Department, this incremental staffing
should take the form of officers with a limited time
contract to avoid creating a glut of permanent State
Department employees.
--The State Department should consider the extent to which
implementing video conferencing would be helpful in
optimizing the deployment of their staff.
--The actual staffing requirement may eventually be reduced if and
when recommendations number 5, 6 and 7 are implemented. We
believe that this is not a reason to delay the immediate
addition of incremental staff because of the attractive
return and the flexibility of limited time contracts.
* Note: FY2011 Final staffing numbers may shift slightly depending
on the outcome of the FY2011 consular repositioning exercise. Positions
will be established in FY2011 but officers may not arrive at post until
FY20123
Source: U.S. Department of State
* Note: FY2011 Final staffing numbers may shift slightly depending
on the outcome of the FY2011 consular repositioning exercise. Positions
will be established in FY2011 but officers may not arrive at post until
FY2012
Source: U.S. Department of State
The net cost to the U.S. tax-payers of adding these resources is
non existent as each officer generates about USD 1.5 million in fees
per year.
Source: U.S. Department of State, Travel and Tourism Advisory Board
analysis
Recommendation number 3: Ask the State Department to quickly
increase the number of processing locations in the key emerging
countries, probably adding 4-6 visa processing locations each in China,
Brazil and India.
The key criteria for choosing the additional cities should be
their size and economic importance. Priority cities in China
should probably include: Chongqing, Dalian, Shenzhen, Tianjin,
and Wuhan.
Recommendation number 4: Enable the State Department to retain all
the visa processing and consular fees to cover the costs of its
consular staffing and visa processing activities.
Rationale/expected benefits: enable the State Department to
develop its visa processing activities with a profit center
focus, i.e., keep adding officers until profitable demand is
met.
Recommendation number 5: Increase the validity of non-immigrant
visas for Chinese visitors to 10 years.
Rationale/expected benefits:
--reduce the work load of the officers as visa renewals represent a
significant share (30 percent) of the current work load in
China;
--reduce the burden for Chinese visitors. We note that such a
measure has been taken for other countries, including
Brazil and India.
Recommendation number 6: Work with Congress to give the State
Department more discretion as it relates to in-person interviews.
Congress should find out from State and Homeland Security
whether in-person interviews are necessary and appropriate for
100 percent of prospective visitors from non-visa waiver
countries or whether technology and judgment could enable the
State Department to grant visas to certain visitors without an
in-person interview and without compromising security.
One option would be to move to a principle of interview-by-
exception, i.e., the practice of many of the countries we
compete with. Another option would be for the Secretary of
State to take greater advantage of the authority she has under
INA sec. 222(h), subject to certain limitations, to waive the
personal interview requirement on the basis of a U.S. national
interest or if necessary because of unusual or emergent
circumstances. The State Department is in fact considering
possible categories of applicants for whom the Secretary might
exercise her interview waiver authority (for example, Brazilian
teens younger than 16 or Chinese students re-applying for
student visas).
Recommendation number 7: Restore the ability of the Secretary of
Homeland Security to admit countries into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)
with a refusal rate of 10 percent or less by decoupling the air exit
requirement from the VWP. Work with key strategic partners to
facilitate their entry into the program.
As was experienced with South Korea, including a country in the
visa waiver program has a large positive impact on the volume
of international travel from that country to the U.S.
We recommend that you ask the State Department to nominate
additional countries for inclusion in the visa waiver program
over the next few years. To the end, the TTAB recommends that
you ask Congress to separate the requirement to implement a
biometric air exit system from the Visa Waiver Program. Such a
change would once again allow the Secretary of Homeland
Security to designate new countries as Visa Waiver program
members by restoring the visa refusal rate cut-off of 10
percent. This action would pave the way for several strategic
markets to join the program, facilitating the entry of millions
of new visitors to the United States.
Major international partners around the world that merit
consideration include, in particular, Brazil as well as other
key countries from South America, e.g., Argentina and Chile.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, there are
other factors, beyond the refusal rate issue, which make
Brazil, Argentina, and Chile ineligible for VWP membership
under current law. For example, they have not signed the
required information sharing agreements (PCSC and HSPD-6); the
required reporting of lost and stolen passports to INTERPOL is
either rare (in the case of Brazil) or non-existent (Argentina,
Chile); Brazil does not offer visa-free travel to U.S. passport
holders, and charges a combined USD 160 fee for entry; and only
Brazil currently issues biometric passports--another legal
requirement for entry into the VWP.
While it may take a while before these countries are ready, we
recommend that the administration take a proactive approach to
moving the process forward, given the economic weight of these
countries and that Brazilian citizens do not need a visa to
visit the Schengen countries today.
Criteria for a Country to Be Included in the VWP
The requirements to join the VWP are set forth in Section
217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the
Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of
2007, and in other statutes (for example, 8 U.S.C. 1732 sets
forth the applicable travel document standards).
The standard requirements include a non-immigrant visa
refusal rate below 3 percent, offering reciprocal visa-free
travel for U.S. citizens for business or tourist visits of up
to 90 days, issuing International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) compliant e-passports; sharing lost and stolen passport
information with the United States through INTERPOL or other
means; sharing information regarding whether citizens and
nationals of that country traveling to the United States
represent a threat to the security or welfare of the United
States or its citizens; and cooperation on repatriation
matters. These requirements include conclusion of various
international agreements and/or arrangements.
Source: Visa Waiver Program Criteria Take Away Paper, Unclassified
document provided by the State Department to the Travel Facilitation
subcommittee of the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board
Criteria for a Country to Be Included in the VWP
Regarding visa refusal rates, the 9/11 Act gave the
Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to waive the less
than 3 percent non-immigrant visa refusal rate requirement and
consider for VWP membership countries that have visa refusal
rates of between 3 percent and 10 percent and that meet
additional statutory and other program requirements, including
the strengthening of document security standards and airport
and aviation security. This authority was suspended on July 1,
2009, because a biometric air exit program was not implemented
by June 30, 2009. The Consolidated Security, Disaster
Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009, required
DHS to conduct pilot tests of the biometric air exit solution,
postponing DHS' s ability to notify Congress that the air exit
system fully satisfies biometric requirements set forth in the
9/11 Act. DHS has conducted biometric air exit pilots and is
currently evaluating the pilot program results; however, it
remains uncertain when DHS will implement a biometric air exit
solution that will enable resumption of the authority to waive
the less than 3 percent non-immigrant visa refusal rate
requirement for VWP membership.
Source: Visa Waiver Program Criteria Take Away Paper, Unclassified
document provided by the State Department to the Travel Facilitation
sub-committee of the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board
The Case for Brazil
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GDP per capita 2010 GDP growth Currently a visa
(USD, 2009) rate (%) waiver country? Visa refusal rate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greece 29,195 -4.0 Yes
Portugal 21,481 1.3 Yes
Malta 19,737 1.7 Yes
Czech Republic 18,124 2.0 Yes
South Korea 17,059 6.0 Yes
Slovakia 16,222 4.0 Yes
Estonia 14,692 1.8 Yes
Hungary 12,900 0.5 Yes
Lithuania 11,273 1.3 Yes
Latvia 10,826 -1.0 Yes
Chile 9,629 5.0 5.0%
Brazil 8,116 7.0 5.2%
Argentina 7,660 6.0 3.1%
China 3,744 10.3 13.3%
India 1,134 8.5 26.8%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommendation number 8: Establish a goal for wait time at
international airports and cruise terminals of less than 20 minutes and
measure/publish the performance against that goal.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce survey of international
travelers
Recommendation number 9: Strengthen the implementation of the Model
Ports of Entry program, through an increase staffing flexibility and
customer service focus and through a public/private partnership
established at each model port. Launch Adopt a model port initiative
with the private sector.
Staffing Flexibility
Enable the use of flexible working hours and part-time labor
to be better able to meet fluctuations in the number of
incoming travelers
Enhance the use of scheduling system and staffing models
Customer Service Focus
Deploy DHS traveler satisfaction survey
Update Explore America International Travelers survey
Continue to deploy customer service training, and direct CBP
officers to greet arriving passengers with ``Welcome to the
United States'' or ``Welcome home''
Public/private Partnership at Each Port--``Adopt a Model Port''
Establish public/private partnership at port level with the
local port authority, DHS representatives, and main relevant
airlines and local travel and tourism companies, to make the
arrival experience more welcoming
Recommendation number 10: Ramp up the Global Entry Program for U.S.
citizens, permanent residents, and trusted international visitors to
reach a number of participants sufficient to materially reduce the
workload of the Customs and Board Protection officers (10 million?).
Ramp up the Global Entry Program for U.S. citizens and
permanent residents, e.g., by:
--Enhancing marketing efforts, including encouraging the State
Department to provide information about Global Entry to
people who are applying for a U.S. passport; and by
leveraging the loyalty program of global travel and tourism
industry players;
--Continuing to increase the number of participating airports,
e.g., by adding the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International
airport;
--Ensuring that the Global Entry kiosks are well placed in the
arrival halls of participating airports;
--Utilizing the Department of Commerce posts around the world to
educate travelers about the program.
Expand the Global Entry Program to international visitors,
e.g., by:
--Finalizing negotiations with the U.K., France, Germany and Japan
to allow reciprocal use of the Global Entry Program;
--Opening the Global Entry Program to holders of long-term, non-
immigrant visas such as E, L or O visas;
--Integrating the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) in the program.
The ABTC allows travelers designated by governments of the
APEC region as key business leaders to receive expedited
visa interviews and to use specialized entry lines upon
arrival in APEC countries.
Finally, the Committee suggests a number of steps to accelerate
progress and follow through on these recommendations:
1. Organize early in 2011 a joint meeting of President Obama
with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of Homeland Security focused setting the goal of
achieving more than 40 million international overseas visitors
per year by 2015 and taking the measures necessary to
facilitate international travel to the U.S.;
2. Ensure the participation of President Obama and Secretary
Locke at the World Travel and Tourism Summit to be held in Las
Vegas on May 17-19, 2011, which can provide a great platform
for the administration to send the right message to the world;
3. Establish a public/private partnership or working group with
the mission to drive progress in the implementation of the
above recommendations and toward the goal of achieving more
than 40 million international overseas visitors per year by
2015.
Establish a public/private partnership or working group with the
mission to drive progress in the implementation of the above
recommendations and toward the goal of achieving more than 40 million
international overseas visitors per year by 2015.
Its members could include: representatives of the White
House, the State Department, the Department of Homeland
Security, the Department of Commerce, the Corporation for
Travel Promotion, the U.S. Travel Association, the Air
Transport Association, and a few U.S. airlines and travel and
tourism enterprises;
It would establish and track a set of key performance
indicators to monitor progress on the above mentioned issues;
It would meet quarterly to discuss progress and issues, and
would report annually to the President and Congress.
Key metrics (examples):
Number of overseas international visitors and market share
Wait times at visa processing centers in key emerging
countries
Number of visa processing locations in key emerging
countries
Number of countries added to the Visa Waiver program
Wait times at model ports
Number of travelers enrolled in Global Entry Program
Number of countries with reciprocal agreements
Traveler satisfaction at the nation's borders
Image of the U.S. amongst international travelers