U.S. Travel Association is responsible for advocating for the various travel policies. The association helps to hasten the recovery in the travel industry while also restoring job and economic growth in the country. They represent the travel businesses irrespective of their size in the travel industry.
The travel association hailed several wins for the nation’s tourism and travel sector. This association also helped to secure a new federal post dedicated to the travel industry. The president and chief executive officer, Geoff Freeman hailed the passing of a government bill (for funding).
New Spanish, Portuguese Websites Reduce the Wait Times of Visa
There are escalating consequences put in place by the U.S. travel association on lengthy visitor visa interview wait times. The launching of the Portuguese and Spanish language versions of the USVisaDelays.com has positively influenced the wait times. In some places, these extreme wait times may go on for years.
The versions will become available in major source market areas abroad where the potential travelers experience severe wait times when applying to visit the U.S. These new multilingual sites aim to give these potential visitors who are waiting for long days or years to visit the country a voice.
According to the U.S. travel association president and CEO Geoff Freeman, they cannot turn the visitors away. He also said “if the Biden administration does not commit itself to reduce the visitor visa wait times, they will choose other available destinations”. U.S. businesses and travelers often post stories about the toll of excessive delays on the live English version.
When Geoff Freeman hailed the passing of the U.S. funding bill, he also included the Onibus Travel and Tourist Act. The act by Geoff Freeman led to a win for the travelers, the country’s economy and travel industry. Due to the created bill, there is a new assistant secretary of travel and tourism role in the US Department of Commerce.
According to Geoff Freeman, the idea of the bill is to ensure the travel industry has a dedicated representation at the nation’s top table. It is also to ensure the creation of a presidentially appointed State position which can lead to the longevity of federal travel policy. The U.S. will join the G20 countries with a travel focused senior federal official thanks to a bipartisan group of congressional leaders.
The newly added role is vital as the association now partners with the government to reduce the wait times of visitor’s visas. It will also ensure a modernized security screening, seamless and secure travel due to leveraged new technologies.
Economic Cost of the Wait Times
There are economic costs incurred more than the visa of the potential qualified international travelers get delayed. On the multilingual USVisaDelays.com site, there are several stories about the delayed visa wait times from some U.S. businesses and visitors. According to U.S. travel, in 2023, the U.S. will lose $12 billion in spending and 7 million qualified visitors due to the wait times.
However, the State Department has made significant progress in various visa categories but not in the B-1 area and B-2 visitor visas.
