US introduces Kiwi entry fee

Reuters

Kiwis travelling to the US will be asked to pay a $14 fee to help fund a tourism programme - and the ailing economy.

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Kiwis travelling to the US will be asked to pay a $US10 ($14) fee to help fund a program to boost tourism - as well as the ailing US economy.

The fee will apply to the US "visa waiver" program that is mostly used by tourists and short-stay business travellers from 34 countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

Details of the fee appeared in the Travel Promotion Act, which Barack Obama signed into law late last week. The new impost is expected to raise about half the funds for a $US200 million ($285m, NZ) global "Come to America" campaign.

This is the first time the US has resorted to a government-sponsored international sales pitch similar to those used by other countries to win a bigger share of global tourism.

The campaign is expected to increase visitor numbers by an estimated 1.6 million travellers, while restoring a more relaxed and welcoming image of America in a security-conscious era.

However, travellers requiring a visa waiver will still be expected to apply before their travel dates to avoid being stopped from entering the US.

A senior vice-president of the US Travel Association, Geoff Freeman, has welcomed the campaign. "The perception of 'fortress America' has taken hold, partly because we haven't gone out and told people we want their business," he said. "And so we've had fewer overseas travellers every year since 9/11."

There were 2.4 million fewer international tourists visiting the US last year than in 2000. Its inability to keep pace with expanding global long-haul tourism is estimated to have cost it $US500 billion in lost revenues over the past decade.

Studies have suggested the campaign could bring in an extra $US4 billion in tourism spending a year, creating more than 40,000 jobs and trimming the federal deficit of the US by $US425 million over 10 years.

The campaign will be administered by a private sector committee which will be overseen by the Department of Commerce in accord with the departments of State and Homeland Security.

The US consulate was still uncertain about a timeframe for the scheme's implementation, saying a bank had not been found to handle processing of the fee.

''It hasn't been decided yet,'' the country consular co-ordinator, Thurmond Borden, said. ''I would say it would take three or four months before it takes effect.''

Almost 650,000 Australians used the program in the 2009 fiscal year - the 10th most frequent users of the scheme in the world.

- with Erik Jensen

- © Fairfax NZ News