NEW YORK (AP) — Mara Haensel started her vacation braced for disaster.
She arrived at the airport near her home in Barcelona, Spain, three hours early, in case a security official detained her for questioning. She carefully noted the address where she would be staying in New York City, since a friend told her that without it border officials would send her right home.
“Since 9/11, everyone is afraid” of security problems when traveling to the U.S., Miss Haensel said after picking up her luggage at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
That perception of the U.S. as an unwelcoming destination has tourism officials in New York and tourism-related businesses nationwide focusing on a new marketing campaign and a national lobbying effort to try to win over foreigners who may have been picking other vacation spots.
New York began its marketing effort Wednesday. The city is one of only a few U.S. urban centers that did not record a drop in the number of overseas visitors between 2000 and 2006, and officials want to make sure the city holds on to that lead.
Now, international visitors arriving at one JFK terminal will be greeted with large welcome signs and red-jacketed workers offering information, maps and insider tips on the city. Visitors who leave the airport in a taxi may see a promotional video, and tourists across the city will see posters from the “Just Ask the Locals” campaign, featuring New York celebrities suggesting favorite itineraries.
The signs and greeters surrounding visitors before and after they go through customs are meant to counteract any negative first impressions, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said.
“Tourists complain that U.S. immigration officials are rude and disrespectful, and they don’t think that’s a good way to start a vacation,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “This is another one of those things that is diminishing our competitive edge.”
Travel-industry advocates say the U.S. should be working harder to maintain an industry that brought $107.9 billion into the country last year — essentially making services to travelers one of the nation’s major exports.
Last year’s U.S. travel income was the highest ever, according to the Commerce Department. But industry group Discover America Partnership warns that the while number of travelers around the world is rising, the number of U.S. visitors from countries other than Canada and Mexico fell 17 percent from 2000 to 2006.
That drop, they say, is partly because of perceived difficulties travelers to the U.S. have faced since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Despite Miss Haensel’s fears of difficulty entering the country, “actually it was fine in the end,” she said. Of the few visitors leaving a JFK exit at the same time as Miss Haensel, none said they had had a bad encounter with officials.
“It’s a perception issue,” said Kelly Klundt, spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. “It’s very easy for the negative stories to get, No. 1, blown out of proportion and, No. 2, to spread far and wide.”
The airport welcoming effort by NYC & Co. — the city’s tourism office — echoes changes promised in federal legislation signed last month. The “model ports” measure, which had been pushed heavily by Discover America Partnership, aims to offer assistance to foreign visitors on arrival and reduce their waiting times. The changes are to be instituted at the 20 U.S. airports that receive the most international arrivals.
The industry group also is lobbying for a proposed national tourism office that would promote the U.S. as a destination.
Ms. Klundt says Customs and Border Protection supports the measures to improve information for travelers and reduce their waits. The agency has developed an informational video for travelers to watch while they wait to see a customs agent, she said.
However, traveler relations is not the agency’s main mission, Ms. Klundt said.
“We are a law-enforcement agency first and foremost,” she said. “We want to be welcoming, but our role is to find the needle in the haystack and to find the one person who means to do us harm.”
Jonathan Tisch, chairman of NYC & Co. and a founder of Discover America Partnership, said both efforts can be priorities.
“We understand that we need secure borders, but we also need open doors,” he said.
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