Worldwide travel, 2003-2013; the total number of world travellers grows by 66 million (35%)


total visitor visas to the USA, 2003: 26,440,000
total visitor visas to the USA, 2013: 25,690,000 (average time for US STATE DEPT to process a fucking tourist visa: 65 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

if we assume the US Tourism numbers also grow at roughly the worldwide average of 36% during those 10 years, the USA should have had 35,000,000 visitors in 2013. They are 10 MILLION SHORT!

in the words of a NYC businessman: "........Does the State Department think foreign tourists are stupid? There are a lot of reasons not to come here, besides the visa issue.Air travel in the US has become so hostile toward passengers that it’s a wonder anyone flies anymore.They are hit with deceptive and predatory pricing by airlines, seat assignment fees, change fees, baggage fees and other nickel and dime tactics.Add to that abusive screening by belligerent TSA agents, who if they don’t strip search the passenger or steal their laptop, treat passengers with utter contempt and defy anyone to object.The stories of TSA molesting children, strip searching elderly women, punching Congressmen, stealing cash and laptops and smuggling drugs get reported in other countries too.Things don’t get any better on board with crowded flights, increasingly frequent late departures and arrivals and surly flight attendants who treat passengers like they are second class citizens intruding into their personal space. There have been repeated incidents of flight attendants harassing passengers and having them thrown off a flight for trivial reasons.Ask yourself, if you were considering visiting the US and read the stories about TSA and our airline industry, would you want to bring your family here? Me neither."