Travel groups want international visitor-tracking tool upgraded

A coalition of business travel organizations has boosted lobbying aimed at improving processes and technology for welcoming international visitors at U.S. airports, saying the Homeland Security Department is moving too slowly to meet congressional mandates.

In letters sent last week to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and key congressional appropriators, the National Business Travel Association urged the government to quicken the pace when it comes to modernizing airports.

A major bill enacted earlier this year to implement unfulfilled recommendations of the commission that investigated the 2001 terrorist attacks requires the department to create a "model ports of entry" program at 20 U.S. airports servicing most foreign business travelers and tourists.

To date, the department has only deployed the program at two airports: Houston International and Dulles International in the Washington region. The association, which includes corporate and government travel managers and travel service providers, joins a burgeoning movement aimed at improving the experience that foreigners have when traveling to the United States.

In its letter to Chertoff, the National Business Travel Association said Homeland Security is taking an incremental approach to the model ports program, which requires enhanced technology and processes for international visitors. The group urged the department "to move as aggressively as possible to implement this program expeditiously.

"Affording business travelers and tourists alike the opportunity to enter the United States through an arrival process that is efficient, welcoming, informative and secure is good for our economy and serves as [a] valuable public diplomacy tool."

C. Stewart Verdery, founder of Monument Policy Group and a chief lobbyist for the association, said the Customs and Border Protection division has not yet issued a schedule for implementing the program at other airports. "We need a more dedicated focus if we're ever going to expand it, and obviously it's going to take some money," Verdery said.

In a separate letter, the association asked top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House Appropriations committees to allocate $40 million to the model ports program. The Senate committee included $40 million, but House Appropriations did not include similar funding. The two chambers have not yet negotiated a final bill.

"We're optimistic that the money will stay in," Verdery said.

The Discover America Partnership, meanwhile, estimates that the United States has experienced a 17 percent decline in foreign visitors, costing the country $94 billion in lost spending, nearly 200,000 jobs and $16 billion in lost tax revenue.

It is backing other legislation that would create an independent, nonprofit corporation to promote travel to the United States. The fund would be financed by both public and private sources, including an additional $10 fee charged to international travelers from U.S.-friendly countries whose citizens do not need visas to visit the United States.

Verdery, who also lobbies for the partnership, said the legislation has bipartisan support from key Senate and House lawmakers. "It's really just a question of how we can get it marked up and through," he said.