US visa rules must be eased—US luxury sector

United States, 30th May: US luxury industry is urging the US government to ease US visa rules if it wants to attract increased number of foreign tourists into the nation.

The industry officials of the US luxury sector say that tougher US visa norms are proving to be a big hindrance in the way of the development of the luxury business.

US immigration system fails to attract tourists—At a recent Reuters Global Luxury and Fashion Summit, top executives joined together to raise their concern against the unfriendly US visa rules which were playing a havoc in encouraging tourism in the nation.

Speaking at the summit, Chief Executive of Starwood Hotel and Resorts (HOT. N), Frits van Passchen stated that no doubt, the safety of the nation is a top concern for all, however, there seems to be no logic in the fact that the nation becomes safer by increasing the waiting times for getting US visas, Passchen said while referring to the current processing times for the US visas which have become as long as three months.

Increased foreign visitors spending in the US—Considering the fact that the US has registered an increase of 10 percent in the spending by foreign visitors in the US as compared to the last year, the nation must focus on attracting more foreign visitors to the US.

As per the available figures, the year 2010 saw around $103.1 billion worth spending by international visitors in the US.

And foreign visitors from China and Brazil registered an increase of 39 percent and 30 percent in the total spending for the year 2010. And there is a good scope for even bigger improvement in the spending by foreign tourists in the US provided the US government is ready to ease US visa norms, the executives at the last week’s summit echoed. According to Steve Sadove, CEO of Saks Inc., which is regarded as one of the big tourist attraction on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, majority of foreign tourists would equally be interested in traveling to the US cities as well as the European cities.

Need for US visa overhaul—Hence, there is an imminent need for an overall of the US visa process if it wants to bring increased revenue for the US nation. Last month, the US Travel Association had also urged the US government for reviewing the US visa process since it could create a total of 1.3 million jobs in the US.