Despite reports Tuesday’s transition to new passport requirements went smoothly for air travelers entering the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, some in the tourism industry are bracing for a hit to their bottom line.
Previously, travel between the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean required identification, but not a passport. Industry officials said the confusion surrounding the rules — for example, there are different start dates for passport requirements depending on whether travelers are going by air, land or sea — and the additional inconvenience of ordering a passport could deter travelers and cut into the multi-billion dollar industry’s profits.
Locally, Washington stands to lose travelers from Canada, which accounts for the biggest share of international visitors to Washington, D.C., according to data from the Washington, D.C. Convention & Tourism Corporation. In 2005, about 200,000 Canadians — 15 percent of all international travelers to the region — visited D.C.
“Generally, people involved in tourism and travel, they’re all discouraged by (the new rules),” said Chris Jones, vice president of public affairs for the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
“(It’s) adding in another layer of cost and convenience. It’s going to be a deterrent until people get used to the rules.”
A recent report from the Canadian Conference Board projects that the U.S. could lose up to 7.4 million trips by 2010 as a result of the new rules.
Tourism officials have been scrambling since the new federal rules were announced in 2004 to come up with ways to counteract the potential losses. For example, the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board launched a marketing program that offered to pay travelers to the Bahamas for their passport fees.
In D.C., the tourism bureau is partnering with Virginia Beach to market package vacations to Canadians. Victoria Isley, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C. Convention & Tourism Corp., said the new promotional strategy is not a result of the passport rules, but a response to unrealized market share.
“The efforts aren’t because of the passport issues,” Isley said. “The increased efforts are because we see there’s an opportunity for D.C. to have more market share of Canadian travelers.”
Travel to D.C.
While Canadian travelers account for the biggest share of international travel to the Washington region, tourists from numerous other countries visit here each year.
» Canada – 12. 7 million
» United Kingdom – 3.9 million
» Japan – 3.2 million
» Germany – 1.2 million
» France – 700,000
» Brazil – 400,000
» Argentina – 200,000
Source: Washington, D.C., Convention & Tourism Corporation, 2003
