Articles tagged “visas”

The J-1 visa program is an invaluable resource for many travel industry businesses. It's clear that any cuts to the program would be detrimental to the travel industry and the broader U.S. economy.

There's no public data here, so it's hard to know how much of an issue this is. But generally, inbound tourism to the United States is important, so if fewer visas are being granted, it's probably not good for American businesses.

As strange as it is that a tweet from a Rabbi would help expose the inner workings of a Presidential administration, it's even stranger that a plan to thoroughly disrupt international travel to the U.S. could be in the works.

Southeast Asian countries have a grand vision for visa-free travel, massive infrastructure projects and more airline competition to grow route networks. However, too much bureaucracy and political unrest stand in the way for this to become a reality in the near-term.

Travel brands have an economic incentive to push policy makers and private sectors in their destinations on sustainability and leaner visa policies because tourists will reward them with higher spending and likely repeat visits.

Travel companies have an economic self-interest in reversing the travel ban and maintaining the relatively free flow of visitors. But, in the current political climate, they obviously feel that the issues involved are important enough to risk stepping into the line of fire.

You'd think having a hotelier in the White House would be a good thing for the hotel industry, but Trump's protectionist and xenophobic immigration and visa policies have the potential do much more harm than good, not only for his own hotel business but that of his peers, too.

What TripAdvisor CEO Kaufer tweeted about Republican Congress members holds true for the travel industry, as well: This is not the time to be silent about an issue that cuts to the core of travel and democracy in the U.S.

Who in their right mind wants to waste government workers' time and sanity to screen the social media accounts of tens of millions of visitors every year when there are home-grown wack-jobs spouting even more dangerous things every day?

It will take both the public and private sectors working together to see that security data is regularly shared in a transparent fashion.