It's not surprising that U.S. market share of global travel has steadily declined. Decades of underinvestment and inattention from the federal government is to blame, according to Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
International visitation to the United States is only 84 percent recovered from prepandemic levels. Much of that business is going to countries that have vastly better systems, including short turnaround for visas and the use of biometrics to speed airport-security procedures. A new study by Euromonitor International, commissioned by U.S. Travel, analyzed the relative competitiveness of 18 countries for global travel. The United States ranks nearly last, at 17th.
The poor scores come at a high cost to the economy. Hours-long waits at customs and immigration checkpoints deter up to $227 million per year in international travel, according to Lodging Economics. Excessive visa wait times could cost the country an estimated 39 million visitors and $150 billion in spending over the next decade, the same study found.
“The U.S. can no longer sit out of the race to modernize travel,” said Freeman. “Today’s situation is decades in the making. It is time the U.S. government collectively gets serious about establishing a metrics-based plan to claim our spot as the top destination in the world, which will pay dividends for decades to come.”
Seamless and Secure Travel Commission takes shape
After several years of lobbying for change, U.S. Travel last week launched a committee charged with making it happen. The Commission on Seamless and Secure Travel is chaired by Kevin McAleenan, former Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The group of former government officials and private-sector executives is charged with developing the vision and a policy roadmap to overhaul the travel experience and increase U.S. competitiveness.
“We have former leaders of the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, diplomatic leaders and infrastructure owners,” said McAleenan. “We expect the commission to work aggressively over the next six months or so, so by the second half of the year, as we get into fall, we're prepared to put concrete recommendations on the table.”
Now with 12 commission members to date (see sidebar, below), more are poised to join the effort, said Freeman. “We're having some very important conversations with notable people who understand the visa process that I expect will be added to the commission.”
Why the U.S. has fallen behind
The Euromonitor study assessed global travel competitiveness in 18 major countries across four weighted categories: national leadership; brand and product; identity, security and facilitation; and travel and connectivity. The United States ranked last in terms of government leadership on travel-related issues and the strength of its national travel strategy.
“Most top markets have a minister of tourism; the U.S. has an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism position, but the role has not yet been filled or fully funded by Congress,” noted Freeman.
Excessive wait times for visitor-visa interviews, averaging nearly 400 days in top source markets, placed the U.S. last in this metric, too. Another blow: The U.S. allows visa-free visitation from 42 nations. The United Kingdom, in comparison, waives visas for 102 countries.
Airport efficiency lags as well. Some international visitors wait more than two hours at customs checkpoints when they get to the United States. “Staff shortages are a main reason for this,” said Freeman. “Right now, we are 1,700 Customs and Border Protection officers short of demand.”
The solutions to travel woes are evident
Efforts to resolve the visa issue have fallen far short of what is needed, said Freeman. The State Department recently set a goal of 90 days to process visa applicants in 90 percent of the country’s inbound travel markets. Even if that goal is achieved, the United States still will be in last place in terms of visa wait times. “The first thing we can do to is set goals that mean something, goals that establish the U.S. as a leader,” he stressed. “Right now, we are setting the bar far too low.”
Biometrics would speed up the airport-screening processes, but only 36 percent of U.S. international airports are equipped with such technology, which is widely used elsewhere. The U.K. has made substantial investments in upgrading facial recognition and other technology, with the goal of eliminating the need for visas altogether, noted Freeman. “Other countries are looking at alternative mechanisms for meeting the travel demand that is out there, while the U.S. continues to do the same things that we've done year after year after year. It's not working.”
The problems aren’t new, but with time they are magnified, he added. “When we look at the various issues we're talking about, these aren't from what happened in the summer of 2023 or the summer of 2022. These are issues that have been decades in the making. We've had other points in time where our market share has slipped, although not in the sustaining way that it is right now.”
The investment in modernizing will pay for itself
The necessary changes will come at a high price, but failure to correct the deterrents to travel is a greater blow to the economy. “Each new flight that we bring in internationally results in $227 million dollars for the U.S. economy,” said Freeman. “So, the truth is the funding comes from travel. That's what other countries have recognized; attracting visitors who spend money in your market and leave without using your services is Economics 101.”
Lack of funding is not the problem, he added: “We're lacking the conviction to deal with these issues, to make travel a priority at a federal government level.”
This research should be a wake-up call to the federal government, said Freeman. “To see the U.S. ranked 17 in a list of 18 top travel markets is eye-opening, stunning and disheartening. It should force people on Capitol Hill to ask some very important questions. We're optimistic that it will.”
Who’s on the Seamless and Secure Travel Commission?
Following are the confirmed members of the Seamless and Secure Travel Commission as of Jan. 11, 2024.
Kevin McAleenan (chair), former acting secretary of Homeland Security; Former Commissioner & Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Customs & Border Protection
Stewart Baker, former general counsel, National Security Agency; Former Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Lucy Chadwick, former director general, international, Security & Environment Group, U.K. Department for Transport
Patty Cogswell, former deputy administrator, Transportation Security Administration
Martha Bárcena Coqui, former Mexican Ambassador to the United States
Michael Huerta, former administrator, Federal Aviation Administration
John Holland Kaye, former CEO of Heathrow Airport
Shawn Kinder, global corporate development and strategy director, Ferrovial Airports
John Pistole, Former Administrator, TSA
John Sanders, former acting commissioner and COO, U.S. Customs & Border Protection; former assistant administrator, CTO, TSA
Seth Stodder, former assistant secretary for borders, immigration and trade policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
