AMERICA'S REACTION TO WORLD COSTING IT TOURISTS

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

AP - The United States has lost billions of dollars and an immeasurable
amount of good will since Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks nearly six
years ago because of a decline in foreign tourists. Several senators are
now trying to get the government involved in bringing those visitors
back. . . Visits to the United States from countries outside of Canada
and Mexico totaled 21.7 million in 2006, down 17 percent from a peak of
26 million in 2000, according to Commerce Department figures. In the
same period, cross-border travel around the world was up 20 percent. . .
Visits from the six countries that provide the most tourists - Britain,
Japan, Germany, France, South Korea and Australia - have dropped 15
percent since 2000 while travel from those six to other countries was up
a robust 39 percent. There were 4.2 million arrivals from Britain, last
year, down 11 percent from 2000, and 3.7 million visits from Japan, down
27 percent. . .

Oxford Economics, in a recent analysis of travel policies written with
former Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge, said the 17
percent drop in visits since 2000 has cost the United States $100
billion in lost visitor spending, almost 200,000 jobs and $16 billion in
lost tax receipts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070705/ap_on_go_co/promoting_tourism_5

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||