US Plans New Travel Restrictions for Europeans

Europeans wanting to travel to the US without visas will now have to seek permission 48 hours prior to departure, US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday.

Chertoff told Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine that Europeans from 13 EU states entering the US under a visa waiver programme should now register online and submit a questionnaire 48 hours before they fly.

“We want to increase the levels of security with an electronic authorisation,” Chertoff said in an interview with the weekly to be published tomorrow.

The man in charge of maintaining America’s homeland security said the measures were being introduced because of the threat posed by Islamist extremists in Europe.

“When we are identifying areas where we are vulnerable, it becomes obvious that Europeans travelling without visas belong to these areas,” Chertoff said.

US and European representatives are currently renegotiating a data-sharing deal struck last October that allows US agencies involved in fighting terrorism to have conditional access to passenger data, if they uphold privacy standards.

The data - including credit card, passport and telephone details - is made available to US customs authorities, who are able to log on to airline computers unseen and withdraw dozens of pieces of information at any time.

In the Der Spiegel interview, Chertoff reaffirmed Washington’s tough stance on the issue.

“Ultimately, the Europeans should realise that we will never let another government decide who comes into the country.”

Chertoff did not say when the new, tighter measures would be introduced.

China’s travel itinerary grows

Standing atop the Empire State Building and looking out on the expanse of glinting skyscrapers and miniature yellow taxicabs, Lili Ma had no doubt New York was the place to be on her vacation from China.

“Everybody needs to bite the Big Apple,” the 36-year-old said with a smile.

Mass tourism advertising for New York — and for the U.S. as a whole — is still forbidden in Ma’s native China. But everyone knows about this place, she said. Her friends all watch “Sex and the City,” and even her mother has heard of California and New York.

That name recognition, coupled with a growing interest in tourism among Chinese who have seen their incomes rise while travel restrictions have lessened, could bring a fortune to hotels, tour companies and attractions around the U.S.

The number of Chinese who travel outside their homeland each year is expected to nearly triple to 100 million people by 2020, and American cities and businesses are positioning themselves to profit from what they hope will be a tourist boom. They are establishing offices in China, and lobbying the government to ease restrictions on travel to the U.S.

“In the next 10 years, it will probably dwarf any overseas market we may have, with the potential to dwarf all overseas markets combined,” said Bruce Bommarito, vice president of international market development for the Travel Industry Association.

While the number of Chinese visitors has been increasing, they certainly haven’t been overrunning American tourist attractions. Just 320,000 Chinese — 1.5 percent of all overseas visitors — traveled to the U.S in 2006. Of the Chinese who left the mainland, fewer than 1 in 100 headed for the U.S., according to American and Chinese authorities.

But many American entrepreneurs believe that number could soon explode.

Noel Irwin Hentschel, CEO of tour operator AmericanTours International, said China will be her company’s top business focus in the coming decades. Speaking by phone from China, where she now spends half her time, she predicted that by 2009 Chinese tourists will account for one-tenth of the roughly 1 million customers her company ferries around the U.S. each year.

“There’s more than a billion people here,” Hentschel said. “Twenty percent of them are the ones with the money, with the ability to travel, from what we understand. There’s a lot of pent-up demand.”

Rising disposable income — now averaging $4,500 a year in cities like Beijing — has made travel an increasingly attainable luxury, and one that is often viewed as a status symbol.

“China has a booming economy, and the middle class is growing very rapidly,” said Ma while on a five-day, Mandarin-language bus tour of the Northeast. Faced with this new wealth, most people “want to go out of China and open their eyes,” she said.

To mine that interest in luxury, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC is planning to open six hotels in China in coming years, out of the 19 it plans worldwide. Executives hope the expansion will help establish Ritz-Carlton as a high-status brand among the Chinese, said Vice President of Public Relations Vivian Deuschl. They are attractive customers both for their sheer numbers and for their spending habits, she said.

Chinese with personal wealth estimated at more than $1 million rank travel as their top leisure activity, according to a recent survey by the Shanghai-based Hurun Report.

Gambling is also popular among Chinese visitors, and Las Vegas has been working hard to cash in on their desire to find a seat at the blackjack and baccarat tables. Another favorite is dining in Chinese restaurants and visiting the nearest Chinatown, in part to see how Chinese-Americans live, Hentschel said.

Including money lost at the tables in Las Vegas and elsewhere, Chinese travelers on average spend about $5,800 per visit — more than residents of any other nation except India, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

In 2004, Nevada became the first non-nation to win approval from the Chinese government to open a tourism office there and advertise directly to the Chinese public. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hawaii have since won permission to open offices or hire representatives. New York hopes to soon.

Travel insurance 'still available' for those with medical conditions

Although those with a long history of illness may struggle to get travel insurance, such tourists still have options available, one industry expert has revealed.

According to Steve Foulsham, technical services officer at the British Insurance Brokers' Association, those who have had serious medical conditions could find themselves excluded by some major travel insurance firms.

However, he suggested that such holidaymakers should still be able to get cover and advised them to seek specialist travel insurers.

He said: "It just unfortunately means you have to dig around a little bit more."

Mr Foulsham also added that when applying for travel insurance, tourists with any previous illnesses or conditions should be completely honest about their medical history.

Earlier this week, a Milsom Howard spokesperson claimed that those aged at least 65 or who have a certain medical background should face higher insurance costs as it helps keep premiums down for those viewed as less likely to make a claim.

However, tourists will be glad to know that Go Travel Insurance has a variety of competitively priced travel insurance policies covering those up to the age of 99 in addition to those with various health conditions.

Ohio Travel Industry Eyes High Gasoline Prices

People in the travel industry are split on what high gasoline prices will mean for Ohio summer tourism.

A spokeswoman for the state Division of Travel and Tourism said expensive fuel could be a boon for the state's attractions, because vacationers in Ohio and neighboring states could decide to see what's close to home, to keep costs down.

Others worry that soaring gas prices are squeezing family budgets and discouraging people from going anywhere. A Columbus Zoo spokesman said the leisure dollar is typically the first dollar that goes.

Officials with AAA said Wednesday's average Ohio price for regular-grade gas is $3.32, down from the record $3.40 that was hit just before the Memorial Day weekend.