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A new $250 fee for visitors to the U.S. will deal a multibillion-dollar blow to the already-reeling U.S. tourism industry, industry experts say.
The controversial visa integrity fee is expected to deter visitors and cost the economy $11 billion over three years, according to an analysis by Tourism Economics. The Congressional Budget Office says the fee will generate around $27 billion in revenue for the government over a decade, but their estimates don’t capture the full impact—fewer tourists translates to less spending, lower tax revenue and job losses in the industry.
“I think in the minds of congressional leaders, foreign visitors don’t vote, so making them pay more … wouldn’t come at any political cost,” Erik Hansen of the U.S. Travel Association told Forbes. “But the problem is it comes at a huge economic cost to American businesses.”
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the new $250 visa integrity fee will bring in around $27 billion over a decade—or $2.7 billion per year—to U.S. government coffers and reduce the national debt.
But a U.S. tourism official told Forbes the fee will instead cost the U.S. economy $11 billion over three years, including $9.4 billion in lost visitor spending and $1.3 billion in lost tax revenue—or about $3.6 billion per year, according to an analysis by Tourism Economics.
In addition, the lost revenue will lead to losing 15,000 U.S. travel jobs, according to U.S. tourism industry estimates.
