IAEE President testifies before Senate to urge visa support for international event attendees.
The event industry let its voice be heard in Washington Wednesday when Steven Hacker (pictured right), president of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, testified before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee on Homeland Security, urging the federal government to examine its issuance practices for U.S. visas.
Hacker's testimony focused on informing the committee of the ?need [for] a cohesive national strategy," he tells EXPOin an interview. "One goal is making the U.S. more competitive in the global marketplace by allowing more international business travelers to come to the U.S. The other equally important goal is enhancing our national security at the same time.?
Hacker introduced a CEIR study to the committee to show the realities and challenges around meetings and international travelers. This CEIR report, ?The Economic Impact of International Non-Participation in the Exhibition Industry Due to U.S. Visa Issues,? was conducted in conjunction with Oxford Economics. Hacker told the senators that the data, released last year, shows:
- ? Visa issues prevent 116,000 international visitors from attending U.S. exhibitions each year, including 78,400 buyers and 37,900 exhibitors.
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- ? By reducing visa barriers to the U.S., the domestic economy could realize increases in business sales, just from U.S. events, of about $3 billion a year.
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- ? Opening up visas to more international travelers would create more than 60,000 jobs (17,500 direct, 43,000 indirect).
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- ? About $750 million would be generated in state and federal taxes from increased international business travel.
?I told the committee that if we have any hope of achieving long-term success, we need a U.S. visa commission created by the Congress,? he tells EXPO.?It should be composed of talent drawn from the Commerce Department, the State Department, Homeland Security and an equal number of executives drawn from the travel and tourism sectors of the economy who have experience in building successful business systems. Those executives know how to compete effectively?it?s not a skill set that you?ll find in the federal government.?
Hacker says another key part of his testimony to the committee was a strong recommendation that visa waiver be expanded materially to include the most promising trading partners like Brazil, Chile, Argentina, China and India, among others. Additionally, Hacker says he took a tough staff with the committee, which did not give much push back.
?I criticized the State Department?s position on videoconferencing as an adjunct for the visa issuance process,? he says. ?We?ve recommended that the state of technology is such today that there?s no reason whatsoever why videoconferencing could not be employed to provide the personal interviews that are required for visa issuance in countries like Brazil, China and India where the geography is enormous. Many people just can?t get to a U.S. embassy or consulate for a personal visa interview. We?re having to drag the State Department kicking and screaming into the 21st century here.?
Chairwoman of the subcommittee, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Hacker says, ordered members of the State Department to meet with the IAEE in an effort to work to create a more efficient and effective visa issuance program.
?We are now preparing to take a delegation of show organizers to meet with the State Department, and it?s not going to be an easy meeting,? Hacker says. ?We?re more than likely going to get an incredible amount of push-back. What we need are organizers who really have a stake in getting more international visitors to their events and who can join us in the delegation with evidence that they can present that at their shows there have been illogical and maybe capricious or unjustified rejections of qualified buyers or exhibitors. I?d like the community to reach out to me because we need to bring to bear that kind of evidence.
Preparing for Worldwide Travel Boom
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] is projecting airline passenger travel will nearly double in the next 20 years.
Earlier this month the FAA released a report, ?FAA Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years 2012-2032,? projects revenue passenger miles [the aviation standard for measuring commercial air travel volume] will nearly double over the next two decades, from 815 billion in 2011 to 1.57 trillion in 2032, with an average increase of 3.2 percent per year. The number of commercial operations at FAA and contract towers is expected to increase by more than 45 percent from current levels.
Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association (pictured right), also testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security yesterday, urging the government to promote and expand international travel.
?Increasing travel in the United States is the most effective form of economic stimulus,? Dow testified before the committee. ?The principle barriers to increased travel to and within the United States are inefficiencies and delays that characterize our visa, entry and passenger screening process. These self-imposed restrictions discourage Americans and overseas visitors from traveling to and within the United States.?
In his testimony, Dow outlined the need to implement a visa issuance process to eliminate inefficiencies, in addition to a visa wavier program for certain nations.
On a worldwide basis, total international tourist arrivals are projected to grow 36 percent between 2010 and 2020, resulting in $2.2 trillion in direct travel spending and 62 million jobs, a release from Dow?s office says.
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