NYC launches new welcome campaign for foreign tourists

Mara Haensel started her vacation braced for disaster.\nShe arrived at the airport near her home in Barcelona, Spain, three hours early, in case some security official decided to detain her for questioning. She carefully noted the address where she’d be staying in New York City, since a friend told her that without it border officials would send her right home.\n“Since 9/11, everyone is afraid” of security problems when traveling to the U.S., Haensel said after picking up her luggage at John F. Kennedy International Airport.\nThat perception of the U.S. as an unwelcoming destination has tourism officials in New York City and tourism-related businesses nationwide focusing on a new marketing campaign and a national lobbying effort to try to win over foreigners who may have been picking other vacation spots.\nNew York City launched its marketing effort Wednesday. Now, international visitors arriving at one Kennedy Airport terminal will be greeted with large welcome signs and red-jacketed workers offering information, maps and insider tips on the city.\n“Tourists complain that U.S. immigration officials are rude and disrespectful, and they don’t think that’s a good way to start a vacation,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. “This is another one of those things that is diminishing our competitive edge.”\nTravel industry advocates say the U.S. should be working harder to maintain an industry that brought $107.9 billion into the country in 2006 – essentially making services to travelers one of the nation’s major exports.\nLast year’s U.S. travel income was the highest ever, according to the Commerce Department. But industry group Discover America Partnership warns that while the number of travelers around the world is rising, the number of U.S. visitors from countries other than Canada and Mexico fell 17 percent from 2000 to 2006.\nThat drop, they say, is partly due to perceived difficulties faced by travelers to the U.S. since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.\n“It’s a perception issue,” said Kelly Klundt, spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. \n“It’s very easy for the negative stories to get blown out of proportion and spread far and wide.”\nKlundt said Customs and Border Protection supports the measures to improve information for travelers and reduce their waits.\nHowever, traveler relations is not the agency’s main mission, Klundt said.\n“We are a law enforcement agency first and foremost,” she said. “We want to be welcoming, but our role is to find the needle in the haystack and to find the one person who means to do us harm.”\nJonathan Tisch, chairman of NYC & Company and a founder of Discover America Partnership, said both efforts can be priorities.\n“We understand that we need secure borders, but we also need open doors,” he said.