Obama was in Magic Kingdom recently to announce that he plans on expanding the tourism industry by making it easier to travel the US of A. He mentioned rising countries like Brazil, China, India, and Israel that still have trouble traveling to the United States receiving some help in fixing this issue in the near future. He also points out that those whom travel often will have a quicker way of going through the nuisances of the airport. It was a short and sweet speech that discussed one of the most important economical foundations of the United States, which is tourism. President Obama won’t admit it, but the tourism industry outside the Disney World area and arguably New York City has been in the negatives pretty much.
The United States used to be one of the tourist hotspots in the world but in recent years because of a multitude of reasons the appeal of the United States has diminished severely. Hell, we have national cruise ship sales on the increase in recent years, which by the way are trips LEAVING the country. Not to sound biased, but honestly Orlando has been one of the few exceptions to the rule, as Disney has remained on top for attendance numbers, and we have Universal Studios nearly doubling in popularity in recent years. So is Obama’s plan a good one? Of course, but one problem, it should have happened a very long time ago especially when the economy was beginning to suck.
In my opinion there are three main things that will always make money in this country no matter what the circumstances: drugs (shut up and accept it), sports, and tourism. All the U.S. has to do is not make it such a pain in the butt to travel and I can guarantee you we will see a consistent flow of money. Vacations are a part of life just like breathing, so it’s not like people aren’t willing to go elsewhere to escape. But flying from place to place needs to be easier; we need to fix the lines, the annoyances, everything. I used to say that there should be a way for us to be able to send in our luggage one day in advance so it’s one less hassle to have to deal with. How will this be accomplished you ask? No idea, but wouldn’t that be nice?
Most important, the tall walls of the United States borders need to come down and we need to be much more inviting to other nations. What kind of message are we sending about trying to spread peace if we make it easy for some nations to visit, while a grueling marathon for others? Brazil is the most baffling example. This country has been explosive in its economy, actually developing a middle class, and has become appealing enough to nab a World Cup and the Olympics within the next 6 years. Brazil would be the first country that I’d focus on, as they absolutely love the East Coast---Miami, Orlando, and New York can agree with me.
But Brazil isn’t the only one. I am pretty sure all of South America gets the shaft as they don’t get the open traveling benefits of the Europeans, and that must change. Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru, and Uruguay are nations that also enjoy visiting the Hispanic-friendly confides of Florida, and I can see a nice increase of tourism if we make their Visa-acquiring lives a little easier.
We do need to always play it safe, but we also need to stop living in the past. It’s a new decade, a new generation, its time for change. Its time to embrace other cultures. And one way to start is by allowing other cultures to visit ours and with minimal pain, wait, money, and hassle. So Obama, Congress, Washington, get it done. Make tourism (more) prevalent again.
P.S. Obama, if you really wanted to score some points, you should not have limited the amount of people that could see your speech in front of the castle to a simple dirty dozen.
No comments:
Post a Comment