Two other U.S. Travel recommendations, which are aimed at easing security procedures for international travelers, could also help U.S.-based conventions and trade shows draw more international attendees.
One proposal would expand any Trusted Traveler program to qualified international travelers entering the U.S., while the other would allow qualified international inbound travelers who are flying onward to another domestic airport to forego a duplicate security check when initially landing in the country.
Aside from any extra trouble international travelers face once they arrive at U.S. airports, probably the greatest difficulty many international visitors face is simply obtaining a visa to enter the country. The federal government's visa waiver program, by which foreign citizens do not need to apply for visas, is restricted to a handful of countries, mainly in Europe. Notably absent from the program are Brazil, Russia, India and China—the so-called BRIC countries, the giants of emerging markets.
Visa issues prohibit about 116,000 international attendees and exhibitors combined from participating in U.S.-based events annually, according to a study conducted last summer by Oxford Economics for the Center for Exhibition Industry Research.
With no visa barriers in place, the domestic economy would realize increased business sales totaling $2.4 billion annually from the extra international participants, including $540 million in combined event registration fees and exhibit space spending, the study showed.
"We find it challenging on an ongoing basis to obtain visas for Chinese visitors who are either attending our show or are visiting U.S. companies," says Peter Eelman, vice president of exhibitions and communications for the Association for Manufacturing Technology.
The group’s biannual show ranks as one of the world's largest, totaling more than 1 million net square feet of exhibit space and attracting more than 82,000 attendees and exhibitors combined from 119 countries.
"Programs such as Trusted Traveler will help, but even more important would be a general re-examination of requirements for Chinese visiting the United States,” Eelman says. “These include business owners, engineers and skilled workers who are extremely unlikely to cause any issues whatsoever and, in fact, are looking to purchase U.S. products. We believe we should make that easier, not more difficult."
Stephen Hacker, president of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), shares Eelman's frustration about the government's action—or inaction—to ease barriers to entry without sacrificing security. But he also sees reason for renewed optimism, especially regarding Brazil.
"When the president went to Brazil (in March), one outcome was his announcement that Brazil was upgraded to a major trading partner, and on the heels of that we have to facilitate the issuance of visas," says Hacker, who also serves on the board of U.S. Travel.
In addition, he says lawmakers and government officials seem more focused on the lost economic opportunities associated with restrictive visa policies than any time in the recent past.
Pointing to a Senate subcommittee hearing in April, he says, "For the first time, you saw members of that subcommittee castigate Homeland Security for years of promised improvements. They said it's basically time for results."
