U.S. will now have a $10 admission charge for visitors but will U.S. travelers pay to visit other countries?
That Statue of Liberty has added an addendum to that little book she’s holding: “Give us your poor, your tired, your huddle masses — and $10 please.”
President Obama, who is exempt from having to pay for visas due to his current job, signed into law the Travel Promotion Act at the end of last week.
It all seemed innocent enough — charge people visiting America a few bucks to enter. Six Flags charges more.
But there are some insidious parts to this little plan designed to bring more tourists loaded down with Euros and Yen to the U.S. — any American traveling abroad could have to start collecting visas. You’ll have to pay for it.
AmericaBlog.com reacted much the same way we did — calling the act a “terrible idea” renaming it “the don’t travel to America act.”
Of course, much of the U.S. travel industry has strongly supported the travel promotion act, seeing it as a billion dollar marketing budget. Let the infighting begin. But the short-sighted idea seems to fall more on the ironic side of planning.
Charge people visiting America $10 so Americans can try to convince foreigners to come here so we can charge them $10. It’s bad enough that anyone wanting to come to America already have to fill out a questionnaire asking them if they’re a Nazi, terrorist or know anyone who might have a bomb laden pair of underwear.
The travel promotion act is a lame law, designed to discourage travelers from even considering a visit to the U.S.
