Brazilian Tourists and American Idiocy.

A new Time magazine article looks at the USA's ass backwards approach to would be tourists from major South American nations - nations like Brazil, Argentina and Chile which are modern by any definition and which are now more progressive in many ways than the USA itself (e.g., equality afforded to LGBT citizens, lower levels of surveillance of their own citizens and a lower wealth disparity than the USA). Tourists from these nations have money to burn in the USA - where, if no one has noticed, the economy is in the toilet and tourism is down except for in the LGBT tourism segment - yet USA visa policies make it a nightmare for these tourists to gain admittance to the USA. It's unfortunate that the USA continues to treat these nations as two bit banana republics when it's the USA itself that id headed to banana republic status in part because of its idiotic and prejudiced policies. Here are some brief story highlights:
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Everyone should love Brazilian tourists. They spend more per capita than any other nationality. Worldwide, Brazilian tourists shell out an average of $43.3 million a day, dropping a gigantesco $1.4 billion last April alone, up 83% from the same period last year, according to the Brazil's Central Bank. In 2010, 1.2 million Brazilians visited the United States, injecting $5.9 billion into the U.S. economy.
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Not that the U.S. has made it particularly easy for os turistas brasileiros to visit. Instead of rolling out the red carpet for the travelers from the increasingly wealthy South American nations, the U.S. makes Brazilians — and every other Latin American nationality — undergo a lengthy and expensive visa-application process that takes months of planning and can cost thousands of dollars in travel, lodging, food and other expenses — all before leaving the country.
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In all of Brazil, a country larger than the continental United States, the U.S. has only four consular offices: in the capital Brasilia, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. . . . While the State Department claims the average international wait time for a visa interview is 30 days, in Brazil it can be as high as 141 days,
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Tourist industry officials say Brazil should be on the list of countries whose citizens do not need a visa to enter the U.S. There are currently 36 countries on Washington's visa waiver list, but none of them are in Latin America. Some argue it's hampering the U.S.' economic growth and global competitiveness. For example, Chilean tourism to the United States is down more than 30% from 10 years ago, while globally the number of Chileans traveling overseas to other countries is up 50%.
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Indeed, the visa hurdles are at odds with a $200 million PR blitz led by the Corporation for Travel Promotion, a public-private partnership created by congressional law in 2010.
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The most lucrative target is Brazil, Latin America's largest economy. In the past, most Brazilians used to come to the United States looking for work; now they come to spend money and create jobs. The spending would help the U.S. economy tremendously. The American tourism market has recovered slowly since 9-11, but it missed out on a decade of growth,
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By just extending the visa-waiver program to Brazil and Chile, he says, the United States could double visits from those countries in one year and quickly generate $10.3 billion in new tourism revenue while creating 95,100 new American jobs.
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[B]y not doing more to welcome them, it might just be Uncle Sam who is denying more Americans a better shot at living the dream themselves.
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There are many things that could be done to improve the economy. Sadly, Washington insiders from both parties seem to be doing nothing.