美国国家公共电台 NPR U.S. Travel Industry Worries As International Visits Decline

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

More people around the world are traveling for vacation and for business, but fewer are coming to the United States. New data released by the U.S. Travel Association shows that in the first seven months of 2017, there's been a 4 percent decline of international travelers coming here. The United States Commerce Department is predicting that trend will reverse. But for now, it's causing a lot of worry in the U.S. travel industry. Joining me is David DuBois from a newly created group called the Visit USA Coalition¹. Welcome to the program.

DAVID DUBOIS: Good day. It's my pleasure to be with you.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: We should start by saying that this decline in international travelers to the U.S. isn't new. It started happening in 2015. But this past year, we saw a more pronounced dip. Walk us through the numbers.

DUBOIS: Well, as you mentioned the first six months of 2017 saw a decline of around 4 percent compared to the same timeframe the previous year. So we have a big opportunity in front of us. And thus, the Visit USA Coalition has formed to try to be proactively supportive of stopping the market share decline and letting people know around the world how wonderful our country is.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'd like to parse² out a little bit of the data. Numbers from July 2017 show that inbound travel from the Middle East is down 40 percent, 32 percent down from Africa, 15 percent down from South America, which has got to hurt certain regions like Florida.

DUBOIS: Oh, my goodness. Absolutely. And we want to be more welcoming.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Some people have called this recent decline the Trump³ slump⁴ because of the shifting immigration policies of the United States like the travel ban, the rhetoric⁵ of the president calling certain countries bad names. Do you think that that is contributing to this?

DUBOIS: Well it's not helpful by any means. To extend the perception and reality that we're welcoming here, I just spent seven days in China, had very interesting conversations with our members in China. And I'm heading to Dubai, the Middle East on Sunday.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What are they telling you when you go to China and when you go to the Middle East about why they're not coming here?

DUBOIS: Well, you know, they're watching BBC, CNN, Fox. They're watching all kinds of different networks, and they can hear a lot of the rhetoric. We want the administration, whether it's Vice⁶ President Pence or President Trump, to now get out there and say, hey, we're a wonderful destination for travel.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. Your group is working with the Trump administration to attract more visitors. And ultimately, the president is this country's biggest brand ambassador. So what's your message to him?

DUBOIS: Well, we're starting with the vice president's office. We're trying to set up meetings with the Trump administration. And all of the great messaging that we've developed with the Visit USA Coalition being launched just a couple of weeks ago is certainly to let them know that we want some real positive statements to come out not only about business but about travel.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So the message is one thing, but there is a practical thing, which is that getting visas to the United States is a lot harder now. How do you attract new visitors to the country if it's harder to get permission to come here?

DUBOIS: Great question. The visa waiver program, which has been in place for many years, continues to be improved. More countries are added to the visa waiver program.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So visa waiver program allows the citizens of a certain country to come here without actually going through the procedure of having to go to a consulate⁷, applying for a visa, paying fees. It's like what we have with the United Kingdom, for example, whose citizens can come here and just show up at the airport and be allowed in after questioning.

DUBOIS: Right. And we need to change the name because waiver means that it's just opening up to everybody, and I know that recommendation's in place because it's not a waiver. These folks are vetted⁸ better than almost any other system that allows international travelers into our country. So yes, we have to make it easy for people to come.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: David DuBois from the newly created group called the Visit USA Coalition, thank you so much.

DUBOIS: My pleasure. Have a good day.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 parse   

v.从语法上分析；n.从语法上分析

参考例句：

• I simply couldn't parse what you just said.我完全无法对你刚说的话作语法分析。
• It causes the parser to parse an NP.它调用分析程序分析一个名词短语。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

5 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

8 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句