Study: Perceived Treatment of Foreign Travelers Driving Away Visitors, Damaging America’s Image Abroad
Source: Discover America Partnership

+ The U.S. entry process is considered the “world’s worst” by travelers

• Travelers rate America’s entry process as the “world’s worst” by greater than a 2:1 margin over the next-worst destination area.
• The U.S. ranks with Africa and the Middle East when it comes to traveler-friendly paperwork and officials.
• 54 percent of international travelers say that immigration officials are rude.
• Travelers to the U.S. are more afraid of U.S. government officials than the threat of terrorism or crime.
• Two-thirds of travelers surveyed fear they will be detained at the border because of a simple mistake or misstatement.

+ By deterring visitors, the U.S. is missing an enormous diplomatic and economic opportunity

• Those with experience visiting America are 74 percent more likely to have an extremely favorable opinion of the country versus those who have not visited recently.
• 63 percent of travelers feel more favorable towards the U.S. as a result of their visit.
• 61 percent agree that, once a person visits the U.S., they become friendlier towards the country and its policies.
• Negative attitudes about U.S. treatment of visitors are having a much larger effect on keeping travelers away from the U.S. than negative attitudes about U.S. policies in the world.
• Nearly nine in 10 travelers tell their friends, relatives about their travel experiences most or all of the time.

+ Minor changes in the U.S. treatment of foreign business and leisure travelers would yield substantial gains

• In every destination criteria but the point of entry experience, international travelers rank America in the top three. Travelers want to come to the U.S.
• Travelers are willing to wait an average of 46.5 days to get a visa to visit the U.S – 15 days beyond U.S. State Department standards, but far less than current wait times in many countries.
• Travelers expectations include clear communications, respect and courteous treatment.

+ View Survey Findings (PDF; 70 KB)
+ Listen to the November 20th conference call on DAP’s survey about Foreign Travelers’ perceived treatment during their visit to the U.S (WAV, 38 min)
+ Topline Findings from the Survey of International Traveler Perceptions (PDF; 98 KB)

This entry was posted on Friday, November 24th, 2006 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Government and politics, International Relations, Transportation and travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.