Obama vows to cut lines for foreigners at US airports
- ST N A US resident arack bama vowed Thursday to cut long and frustrating lines at customs for foreigners arriving at US airports in a bid to lure 1 million tourists a year by .
bama promised to maintain national security but ease the entry of travelers as he launched a new tourism push designed to create more American jobs.
logged entry points like New ork s ohn . ennedy airport and Dulles airport outside ashington often anger foreign tourists especially at times of the day when flights from urope or Asia arrive en masse. Some tourists must wait for an hour or more to get into the country.
efore traveling to the aseball Hall of ame in ooperstown, New ork, bama met tourism chiefs to discuss how to boost the industry.
“I ve directed my administration to work with airports, airlines, hotel groups, states and cities to do more to improve the traveler e perience and to reduce wait times for folks entering into the United States, all without compromising our security,” he said.
bama said that Dallas ort orth airport and hicago s Hare airport had already cut waiting times to only a uarter of an hour for overseas tourists entering customs.
“ ou get off your plane, it takes you 15 minutes to get through if you re an international traveler. And that is a big deal,” the president said.
“If folks spend less time at the airport, they re more likely to come back for a return trip.