Another gem from the Center for Really Obvious Things, but this one I almost missed:

The US has suffered a sharp drop in tourism since 9/11, mainly because of concerns over tighter passport and customs controls, according to the travel industry.

It estimates that there has been a 17% drop in the US share of tourism, costing the country an estimated $1bn (£508m) in lost revenue over the past five years and almost 200,000 jobs.

snip

The Travel Industry Association of America said the number of visitors from the UK had declined from 4,703,000 in 2001 to 4,345,000 in 2005, a drop of 7.6%. UK visitors to other countries - such as Canada, Australia and China - increased during the same period. The figures are included in a document, A Blueprint to Discover America, that sets out proposals for tackling the crisis. It suggests streamlining the visa process and a major promotion campaign.

A Discover America Partnership survey of more than 2,000 non-American travellers in October and November found 66% were "worried that they will be detained for hours because of a simple mistake or misstatement at a US airport".

That’s hitting ‘em where it hurts! Seriously though, in discussions with other expats, it seems that even as citizens we all share the same concerns. Delays, unprovoked suspicion, abuse of power, etc. all seem to be common practice at the US border these days.

To be perfectly fair, aside from having to open my pants once in Amarillo National Airport (not a pleasant experience), 9 times out of 10 I make it through without any exceptional incident. Nevertheless, I feel as though I am greeted with a presumption of guilt at every entry point and constantly worry that some small slip-up will result in missed flights or worse. Honestly, if I didn’t have family to visit, I rather doubt I would choose the United States as a vacation spot when there are so many stress-free alternatives.

IMHO, I am inclined to believe that every freedom we voluntary strip from our lives is one step closer to the totalitarian utopia envisaged by vanguard al-Qaedists. Yet as annoying as all these changes are, if they actually resulted in increased security I would be in full agreement. Unfortunately, the most egregious reformations in airline security – shoe removal, triple ID checks, liquid bans, no-fly lists, fingerprinting, etc. – make nice window dressing for the doomsayers but offer approximately zilch towards making air travel more (or less) secure.

Anyway, as someone who travels often, I am interested in people’s opinions on the matter. What policies do you favor? Which are completely asinine? What would you do differently? And why the hell would the Dukes of Hazzard try to pass of Coy and Vance when everybody knows Bo and Luke are the REAL Duke brothers?