I Must Be Missing…...Something Here
I’m in the process of organizing our summer vacation. Talk about “military precision planning”:
I think I can add a new title to my endless list of jobs: logistics management & travel agent
After planning this 2-month 3-country voyage I now have some other paperwork to tackle. Since I don’t have an American passport I need to register on line (ESTA) before traveling to the USA. And let’s not forget the photograph and initially 2 digits but now all ten fingerprints taken at the customs in the States. (European Entry for American visitors is such a contrast with no form (not even customs), no photographs and no tax –they still need a passport though!)
But pretty soon I might also have to pay to have the privilege to go visit friends and family in the States. Thanks to the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) I will now have to pay a $10 fee (this fee applied to travelers from the 35 countries that don’t have to pay for a visa).
Apparently the measure will “entice new visitors and spur new spending” and “The tourism industry expects the new measure to attract 1.6 million international visitors who otherwise wouldn't visit the U.S.” What I don’t understand is how making people pay to go visit a country will make them want to come even more or even spend more. Anyhow since in the tourism world it’s usually a tit for a tat (I need a visa to come to your country, you need a visa to come to my country kinda thing) “The European Union from where a significant chunk of inbound tourists emanate, intends to retaliate against the $10 tax with a tax of their own directed at US visitors”.
- 6 airports (Stavanger, Amsterdam, Paris, Chicago, Omaha, Lyon)
- 3 countries (Norway, USA, France – with 2 wee stops in The Netherlands)
- A 3-people travel plan, a 1-person travel plan, and a 4-people travel plan because it would have been too easy if we had all traveled together!
I think I can add a new title to my endless list of jobs: logistics management & travel agent
After planning this 2-month 3-country voyage I now have some other paperwork to tackle. Since I don’t have an American passport I need to register on line (ESTA) before traveling to the USA. And let’s not forget the photograph and initially 2 digits but now all ten fingerprints taken at the customs in the States. (European Entry for American visitors is such a contrast with no form (not even customs), no photographs and no tax –they still need a passport though!)
But pretty soon I might also have to pay to have the privilege to go visit friends and family in the States. Thanks to the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) I will now have to pay a $10 fee (this fee applied to travelers from the 35 countries that don’t have to pay for a visa).
Apparently the measure will “entice new visitors and spur new spending” and “The tourism industry expects the new measure to attract 1.6 million international visitors who otherwise wouldn't visit the U.S.” What I don’t understand is how making people pay to go visit a country will make them want to come even more or even spend more. Anyhow since in the tourism world it’s usually a tit for a tat (I need a visa to come to your country, you need a visa to come to my country kinda thing) “The European Union from where a significant chunk of inbound tourists emanate, intends to retaliate against the $10 tax with a tax of their own directed at US visitors”.
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