Increase international tourism through travel visa reform
Policy Factsheet Background Travel is the United States’ top service export, accounting for $153 billion in annual exports and directly supporting 1.1 million U.S. jobs.1 Every dollar a foreign tourist spends in the United States counts as an export, with foreign tourists spending an average of $4,000 per trip on U.S. goods and services. While global travel increased by 40% from 2000 to 2010, the limitations of the U.S. visa system reduced the U.S. share of global travel from 17% to 12.4% in that period.2
Visa barriers are not only a loss for the leisure tourism industry, but also impede the success of U.S. international businesses; international customers have a difficult time traveling here to do business, and foreign employees of American companies cannot visit their offices without unnecessary delay. Increasing travel to the United States by reforming our visa system would be a highly effective economic stimulus that would inject billions into the economy and create millions of American jobs. In fact, every 33 overseas travelers creates one new American job.1 The travel industry has created jobs 26% faster than the rest of the economy, despite of our nation’s inability to keep up with global travel growth.3 1 U.S. Travel Association, Travel Means Jobs, 2012 | 2 U.S. Travel Association, Ready for Takeoff, 2011 | 3 U.S. Travel Association, 2012
Top Sources of WA’s Foreign Tourists
Travel Visa Reform
Policy Factsheet Why it matters to WASHINGTON Washington state would benefit significantly if it were easier for foreign leisure and business travelers to visit here. The International Competitiveness Strategy for Washington State found that international tourism is our state’s second largest services export (after software) at close to $4 billion in 2010. In 2012, tourists spent $16.9 billion in Washington, and our state’s companies increasingly welcomed foreign customers and employees.4 Yet Washington has the opportunity to be an even bigger destination for foreign tourists and business travelers, due to our geographic location, desirable attractions, diverse population and existing relationships with Asian and South American countries.
FAST FACTS: 3,579,365 Sea-Tac Airport international passengers7 $4.7 billion total Washington tourism employee wages4 154,500 tourism jobs in Washington5 $1.1 billion in state and local taxes contributed by tourism5 $643 million contributed to the WA economy by foreign students8 22,896 foreign students enrolled in WA institutions8
The Seattle region saw an overall 5.7% increase in foreign tourists last year, with a 45% increase in Chinese tourists. The number of Chinese tourists is expected to jump 154% over the next four years.5 With international tourists spending an average of five times more than domestic tourists, increasing international tourism drives economic growth and creates local jobs.6 Tourists enjoy a Ride the Ducks tour on Lake Union in Seattle 4 Washington Tourism Alliance, 2012 | 5 Visit Seattle, 2014 | 6 U.S. Travel Association, 2014 | 7 Port of Seattle, Airport Statistic, 2012 | 8 NAFSA, Economic Impact Statement, 2012-2013
Policy Recommendations9 To maximize our nation’s economic growth in the tourism sector, the United States must create a more efficient and secure visa system. The Jobs Originated Through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act, which was introduced in 2013 and now has 150 co-sponsors, would make important reforms to U.S. visa policies such as: - Expand the highly successful Visa Waiver Program (VWP) that enables international travelers from approved countries to enter the U.S. without a visa; - Expand the Global Entry program that expedites entry for preapproved, low-risk international travelers; -Mandate expedited visa processing and reduced visa wait times for travelers who wish to visit the United States; -Facilitate the use of secure videoconferencing to conduct visa interviews by authorizing a pilot program to test feasibility, which would provide increased access to a U.S. visa for potential travelers The VWP alone, if extended to Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Israel, Panama, Poland, Romania and Uruguay, could increase international visitors by more than 600,000 and add more than $7 billion to the U.S economy, supporting more than 40,000 additional U.S. jobs. Spending by South Korean visitors in the U.S. increased 52% since that country was admitted to VWP in 2008.
Policy FAQs 1. What is the potential impact of travel visa reform? To become a competitor in the international long-haul travel sector, the Obama Administration has set the goal of welcoming 100 million more visitors, which would result in $250 billion in additional exports by 2021.10 Adding just one consular official can generate up to $50 million in U.S. travel exports, not including $1 million in visa fee revenues.2 2. Will the reforms lower U.S. security? Although the wait time will decrease, applicants will be screened with same level of scrutiny. International travel to the U.S. can be increased without putting our homeland security at risk.10 3. How will visa reforms increase the nation’s trade competitiveness? The U.S. needs to stay competitive with other countries’ visa policies in order to attract international visitors. If foreign visitors can quickly and efficiently enter the United States, more international tourists will spend money in our country. In addition, Washington employers will find it easier and quicker to bring their international customers and employees to Washington to do business.
1.5 million tourists visit Mt. Rainier each year, many of them international tourists 10 Task Force on Travel & Competitiveness, “National Travel & Tourism Strategy,” 2012
Washington Council on International Trade www.wcit.org @WashingtonTrade 1301 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1500 Seattle, WA 98101