[ti:Are US Travel Restrictions Keeping Visitors Away?+++美国旅行禁令吓跑了游客]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]America's travel industry says it fears new restrictions
[00:06.72]on foreign visitors to the United States will harm U.S. tourism.
[00:14.96]President Donald Trump approved the travel restrictions.
[00:20.80]They affect people from some Muslim majority nations.
[00:26.20]But online searches for flights to the United States are down in most major nations,
[00:35.36]not just those affected by the travel order.
[00:41.44]Some rights groups have criticized the travel restrictions,
[00:47.28]saying they unfairly target Muslim visitors.
[00:52.92]The rules led to protests around the country and legal action.
[01:00.12]U.S. courts have temporarily blocked enforcement of Trump's travel orders.
[01:08.76]Patricia Rojas-Ungar is with the U.S. Travel Association.
[01:16.44]She says tourism is a very competitive business.
[01:21.97]She says the U.S. tourism industry will be hurt
[01:27.00]if foreigners fear coming to America.
[01:31.88]"Travelers have a choice and, if they feel
[01:34.96]any concern or anxiety about traveling to a destination,
[01:37.76]they can very well pick another destination to go."
[01:41.32]Rojas-Ungar said even people in countries not covered
[01:46.34]by the restrictions could be afraid to plan a U.S. trip.
[01:52.92]She added that worried travelers going elsewhere could affect the economic health of many states.
[02:03.12]"Travel and tourism is a top economic driver for the U.S. economy.
[02:07.80]It's a $2.1 trillion dollar industry, and we support 15.1 million American jobs..."
[02:15.88]Rojas-Ungar added that tourism creates many jobs that cannot be exported.
[02:24.79]They include positions in restaurants and hotels.
[02:31.04]She said she hopes the Trump administration will make travel policies clearer in the future.
[02:40.16]She would also like to see more efforts by U.S. officials
[02:44.92]to extend a warmer welcome to visitors.
[02:50.56]Andrew Coggins studies travel issues.
[02:55.32]He is a professor at Pace University in New York City.
[03:01.56]Coggins says the restrictions are likely to keep many foreign visitors and students away
[03:09.92]because of fears they could face bigotry and prejudice.
[03:16.36]Even if the travel rules keep getting revised, as they did once before,
[03:23.09]he said the message sent will not be easy to change.
[03:28.74]"The damage has been done," he said. "I think the resentment is there.
[03:36.24]It has been generated and it is not going to go away that fast."
[03:43.52]Coggins says New York City alone
[03:46.78]could see hundreds of thousands fewer visitors and lose millions of dollars.
[03:54.84]Juhel Miah, a British citizen and mathematics teacher,
[04:00.68]brought attention to the issue after he was removed from an airplane.
[04:06.58]He and a group of students were going to a school trip to America.
[04:13.84]Miah told VOA he is still not sure why he was prevented from visiting the United States.
[04:23.60]"I really think I was being targeted. Is that because of my name?
[04:27.36]Is that because of the way I look or the color of my skin? Who knows? I do not know."
[04:33.24]He added that many other teachers have contacted him
[04:37.88]and are considering canceling plans to visit the U.S. with their students.
[04:45.16]But he has also received encouraging emails from Americans,
[04:50.84]including one from a fifth-grader in Atlanta.
[04:55.53]The teacher said these reactions still make him want to visit America very much.
[05:05.04]I'm Bryan Lynn.
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