Discover America Proposes Changes to Visa Waiver Program

June 18, 2007

Discover America Proposes Changes to Visa Waiver Program
June 18, 2007 –Discover America is proposing a $10 fee for visitors from visa waiver countries, such as England, France and Germany. The money would be used to promote travel to the United States and to pay for ways to ease border inspection procedures. Discover America also wants to add 10 nations to the list of 27 countries whose citizens can travel with only a passport, not needing a visa.

According to the group, the fee would raise $200 million a year. Half of that would be used to promote tourism, and the other half would be used to promote and speed up security at border checkpoints. The change would attract an additional 1.6 million visitors a year, yielding $8 billion in spending and $850 million in new federal tax revenue, according to the group, citing a study it commissioned from Tourism Economics.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has endorsed the proposals as a paid consultant for the group.

For more information on "An Economic Analysis of New Visitor Entry Policies for the United States," visit http://www.poweroftravel.org/.