USA begins to collect entry fees on travellers from Visa Waiver countries

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will begin collecting fees on travellers from Visa Waiver countries beginning Sept. 8, 2010. Travellers will be charged a USD 10 fee when applying for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). A portion of the fee will go toward funding the Corporation for Travel Promotion, created by the 2009 Travel Promotion Act. Customs and Border Protection, the DHS unit that is overseeing the process, also established a USD 4 cost-recovery fee for the ESTA program, meaning the total to visitors will be USD 14.

Currently, travelers from Visa Waiver countries are required to log on to a secure U.S. government ESTA website, enter their passport information and expected itinerary, and wait for an electronic authorization, which is good for multiple entries for two years.

Source: Travel Weekly; find article here>>.

U.S. Travel Association Calls for End to Arizona Travel Boycott

Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, today called for an end of all Arizona travel boycotts and urged Washington policymakers to do what their constituents have repeatedly asked them to do and address the complex issue of immigration. “We call for an end to counterproductive Arizona travel boycotts. Immigration reform is an important and sensitive topic for Arizona and the country at large. This complex issue should be resolved on the merits of various proposals, not by holding an industry and its 300,000 employees hostage to politics.", Dow said.

Source: U.S. Travel Association press release; find full text here>>.

China lifts ban on tourists with STD, HIV and leprosy

As Shanghai prepares to host the world exposition, China has lifted a two-decade ban on travel to the country by people who carry the virus that causes AIDS or who have other sexually transmitted diseases or leprosy. The ban on travel is now officially limited only to people with infectious tuberculosis, serious mental disorders and “infectious diseases which could possibly greatly harm the public health.”

Source: The New York Times; find article here>>.

Arizona: new immigration law detrimental to tourism?

Many officials in Arizona's tourism and hospitality industry fear that the state's new immigration law is anything but hospitable. Hotel owners, tour operators and convention executives say the law could discourage visitors and companies from meeting there at a time when one of the state's vital industries already is suffering. There are already some calls for an economic boycott.

Source: USA today; find article here>>.

France: Burqa ban to apply to tourists too

France's government announced it would apply a proposed ban on face-covering Islamic veils to visiting tourists as well as residents, even as skepticism mounted over the legality of the plan. The draft bill will be presented to the cabinet next month. France's highest court has already warned the government that a complete ban could be unlawful.

Source: eTurboNews; read article here>>.