Travel Organizations Respond to Trump's Travel Ban
Impacting Travel Donald Wood January 31, 2017
On Friday, Jan. 27, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order which bans travel to the United States from seven countries for the next 90 days.
The countries dealing with the ban are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
As a result of the Executive Order on immigration from President Trump, travel organizations around the world are weighing in on a decision that has impacted the entire industry.
One organization voicing its disapproval with the ban is the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and its president and CEO David Scowsill. The group released a statement asking President Trump to reconsider the Executive Order:
“If this move by the Trump Administration is designed to ‘prevent infiltration by foreign terrorists or criminals,’ it is important to point out that the vast majority of terrorist attacks in the recent past have been perpetrated by home grown, radicalized nationals of the country involved,” Scowsill said in a statement.
“None of the shocking domestic incidents in the US since 2001 have been attributed to external terrorists who have specifically flown into the country to commit an atrocity. Preventing ‘aliens’ from entering the US for legitimate business or leisure purposes is misguided and counter-productive for the American economy.”
“Travel & Tourism bridges divides between cultures, fosters understanding across religious and geographic boundaries, and generates more peaceful co-existence,” Scowsill continued. “Our sector is responsible for the livelihoods of millions worldwide. The US has suffered in the past from similar isolationist policies. We urge the Trump Administration to reconsider this ban.”
While the WTTC came out against the ban, other travel organizations supported the President’s decision, but have asked him to speed up the process in order to avoid confusion and damage to the industry.
The U.S. Travel Association and its CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement in regard to the travel ban:
“People all over the world want to visit the U.S. and the U.S. travel community strongly supports efforts to ensure that visitors to this country are unimpeachably legitimate,” Dow said in a statement. “In doing so, it is imperative we find the right balance between security and facilitation, and we stand ready to support the administration and Congress to achieve this goal.”
“We recognize the new administration's desire to review visa issuance protocols with respect to countries that have a heightened risk of terrorist activity or weak law enforcement cooperation with our government,” Dow continued. “We urge the administration to conduct this review quickly, and trust that it will yield an even more secure travel security system that protects international travelers and welcomes them into our country to conduct business and to enjoy our cities, attractions, national parks and landmarks.”
American Society of Travel Agents CEO Zane Kerby also released a statement on Trump’s Executive Orders:
“ASTA remains vigilant in both monitoring the situation surrounding the Immigration Executive Order and keeping our members up-to-date and prepared to serve their clients,” Kerby said. “The Order calls for the development of ‘standards to prevent terrorist or criminal infiltration by foreign nationals’ as well as inter-agency work to create ‘uniform screening standards for all immigration programs government-wide.’ We urge the Administration to conduct its review expeditiously so that travel industry stakeholders know the rules of the road when serving their clients and that travel disruptions are kept to a minimum.”
In addition to representatives from the top travel organizations commenting on the travel ban, many companies within the travel industry and even more people on social media have spoken out about the controversial decisions.
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