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RANT: Does America need a tourism czar?

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Our haphazard, unfocused, uncoordinated efforts to sell America to the world’s tourists won’t cut it in the 21st century. We have to do better.

President Barack Obama last year signed an executive order creating a task force to design a National Travel & Tourism Strategy. It was a follow-up to his 2010 signing of the Travel Promotion Act of 2009.

Believe it or not, it’s the first time in our history that the US government has set promoting foreign travel to America as a national priority, something that most of the world’s nations, from the poorest to the richest, have been doing for decades.

To American ears, the title “tourism minister” has a quaint, even comic ring to it. To the rest of the world, however, it’s no joke, and here’s why:

Some time last month, a man or woman packed a bag and boarded a plane, train, bus or a ship to travel from one country to another, maybe for business but more likely for pleasure. That person was the one billionth traveler of 2012, the first time the world has ever seen that many people traveling in one year.

Tourism worldwide generates about $1 trillion and hundreds of millions of jobs annually. It’s growing almost in defiance of the recession. Just about every nation on Earth wants as big a piece of that action as it can get, and they’re all working very hard at getting it.

The world’s top ten tourism destinations, in order, are France, the United States, China, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Germany, Mexico and Malaysia. The US is the only one of the ten that doesn’t have a Cabinet-level official devoted to promoting tourism.

Some may argue that America has done well enough at attracting tourists without needing one. “We’re Number Two! We’re Number Two!” What’s the problem with that? Let me count the ways.

  1. Our Economy American unemployment is unacceptably high. This country has been bleeding manufacturing and other blue-collar jobs for decades and those jobs are not coming back. At the same time, you will be hard-pressed to find another industry in the world generating more new business and new cash flow than tourism. Think this economy could use some new jobs?
  2. Our Pride Since when were Americans content to be Number Two in anything?

And yet we sort of muddle our way through the business of attracting more visitors — and their money — to this country.

New York City is America’s top travel destination, and last year, the Big Apple drew a record 52 million visitors. The fact that the City of New York runs 18 tourism offices around the world probably had something to do with that.

It’s great that New York can afford to run its own overseas promotional campaign, but why should it have to? And what about all our other great cities that can’t afford to run their own foreign offices?

The Travel Promotion Act of 2009 created something called the Office of Travel Promotion within the US Commerce Department. Show of digital hands: How many of you out there ever heard of the Office of Travel Promotion before this moment?

If I dig long and hard enough, I can probably find out who runs this office and what it’s doing on behalf of American tourism — but why should I have to? Why should anyone have to?

I could easily tell you who’s in charge of tourism in Denmark, Brazil, Singapore, Botswana, or more than a hundred other countries. All the government’s efforts to bring in more visitors flow with a single, concentrated focus through that person’s office.

Who holds that responsibility in the United States? Who is the face of American tourism in Washington? Thirteen years into the 21st century, I have no idea — and I’m betting you don’t, either.

The federal government’s attempts to push American tourism abroad hasn’t even taxied to the head of the runway yet and already, it’s a hot, disjointed mess — a board here, an office there, a task force over in the corner.

Who’s running this?

Somebody needs to take charge here, a Cabinet-level official with the clout to pull all these scattered efforts together, and a profile that guarantees direct access to the President and Congress when necessary.

A tourism secretary. A tourism minister. A tourism czar. The title itself doesn’t matter, but the need for it does. Because the global competition for those $1 trillion is heating up, and the rest of the world is not waiting around for Washington to get its act together.

AFRICA: Once upon an airline

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McDonnell-Douglas MD-11

© Ramon Berk | Dreamstime.com

Few people have ever heard of USAfrica Airways. A combination of forces made sure it would stay that way.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time bemoaning the relative lack of US-based airlines connecting the United States to Africa — not realizing that once upon a time, there was an American air carrier devoted solely to that purpose.

Never heard of it? That’s no surprise, for reasons that will become all too clear very quickly. But for one brief, shining moment, America had her own direct air link to the Mother Continent.

USAfrica Airways consisted of exactly two airplanes. They were McDonnell-Douglas MD-11s, an updated version of the original three-engined Douglas DC-10 jumbo jet.

Both were leased from American Airlines, which was USAfrica Airways’ parent company. Sort of.

Starting in 1994, they flew seven times a week between Washington-Dulles (IAD) and South Africa — six flights to Johannesburg (JNB) and one to Capetown, South Africa (CPT), with a refueling stop in the Cape Verde Islands.

There was talk of eventually extending routes to Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Angola.

At the time, it was the only US airline flying strictly international routes. As far as I can tell, it was the only US airline ever dedicated exclusively to Africa.

AN OPPORTUNE TIME
That the airline began operation in 1994 was no accident. It was the year that Nelson Mandela had become the first black president of a South Africa free of apartheid.

US government sanctions against doing business in South Africa had lifted. The way was clear to dive into a large and largely untapped market. And as South African aviation writer Paul Dubois tells it, the founders of USAfrica Airways had visions of a large black American clientele:

“With the first black president of South Africa, [the airline's founders] saw a huge potential for a new market of African-Americans wanting to visit Southern Africa and a general growth of the leisure trade between the two countries. Also the business market would grow with the development of South Africa as sanctions fell away.”

At first glance, they seemed to have their game tight. The MD-11 was supposed to be a state-of-the-art upgrade over the proven DC-10, but having three engines instead of four like the giant Boeing 747 meant less fuel and less maintenance cost.

Washington-Dulles airport (IAD)

©Poobear88 | Dreamstime.com

And according to Dubois, USAfrica Airways was putting the kind of emphasis on on-board service that had already won several Asian airlines a worldwide reputation:

“Leather seats with extra legroom in the configuration of 18 (First Class), 66 (Business Class) and 154 economy class. The extra legroom was obtained by removing seats and can be compared with the American Airlines configuration of 19 FC, 49 BC and 203 economy class. Economy class meals were served on crockery and first class meals were served a la carte on board the aircraft. They served the finest South African and Californian wines.”

Sounds like a winner, doesn’t it?

So why did USAfrica Airways vanish from the skies after only eight months?

BAD LUCK, BAD MATH, BAD CHOICES
Some of it was bad luck. The MD-11 turned out to be a dog, plagued with all manner of technical problems, the biggest of which were its engines.

The three engines didn’t perform as advertised, which meant the jet’s range was 500 miles shorter than it was supposed to be. When you make your living flying across oceans, lack of range is a problem.

In short, the MD-11 was a hooptie with wings.

The airline got off the ground with $30 million in seed money; it cost $9 million just to set up their inaugural flight. Then they had to pay the leases on those two underperforming planes to American Airlines — $7,000 per hour, per plane.

It takes 15 hours to fly each way between Dulles and Johannesburg, a 30-hour roundtrip. Do the math.

In my next life, I want to have a jumbo jet leasing business.

Washington-Dulles, distant, inconvenient and expensive to reach from the nation’s capital, was a lousy choice for the airline’s “hub,” especially if you’re intent on having a large black American passenger base.

Any number of East Coast airports would’ve been better — JFK or LaGuardia in New York City or Newark across the river in New Jersey, Reagan National in DC. Instead, they went with Dulles.

SET UP TO FAIL?
There were other problems. The airline wanted to make changes to the aircraft interiors; American wouldn’t let them.

As Dubois explains it, its US-based business executives had little experience and less understanding of what it takes to operate in Africa, and burned through even more cash on consultants who didn’t seem to help much — and may have been motivated not to:

“Vast sums of money [were] spent on “consultants” who quite frankly appeared to me to be clueless and only interested in their egos. Too many being ex-American Airlines [employees] who were clearly “in bed” with SAA.”

“SAA” is South African Airways, the big dog of southern African air travel. From the look of it, they didn’t appreciate the presence of USAfrica Airways on what they saw as their turf.

When SAA entered into a code-share agreement with USAfrica Airway’s parent, American Airlines, that pretty much spelled the end.

USAfrica Airways made its final flight in Feb. 1995. Eleven years would pass before another US airline would touch down in Africa on a regular basis.

You can read Dubois’ entire description of the life and death of USAfrica Airways here.

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, WHAT COULD YET BE
The story of USAfrica Airways is a story of what was and what might have been. An airline devoted exclusively to Africa would’ve interested a lot of potential American visitors, especially visitors of color.

American travelers reluctant to fly on foreign carriers would’ve had a US airline to take them to the Mother Continent. Black Americans looking to reconnect with their heritage or seeking to hook up with their African brothers to create new businesses would’ve had a ready connection.

Indeed, the airline itself eventually could’ve become an engine generating new businesses, and new jobs, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Instead, it became a brief, but hectic and cautionary tale about the difficulties of starting an airline and the challenges of doing business in Africa.

It also is yet another reminder that the so-called “free market” really isn’t all that free. Sometimes, the game really is rigged, the table tilted, the playing field uneven.

Still, the incurable optimist in me hopes that one day, someone else will take a crack at this, learn from the mistakes of the past, and give American and Africa the aerial connection they both need and deserve.

Edited by P.A. Rice.

ALSO CHECK OUT:
the AFRICA page
AFRICA: The Delta Connection

the SUNDAY TRAVEL DIGEST 9.11.11

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A roundup of the good, the bad and the bizarre from the world’s best travel media

Pirogues at the Banjul ferry crossing, the Gambia | ©Greg Gross

THE DOG DAYS OF TRAVEL?
The travel industry has conditioned us Americans to view the Labor Day weekend as the official end of the summer travel season. The folks at Lonely Planet would like to offer a dissenting view.

September, you see, is the start of the “shoulder season,” which just might be the traveler’s best friend. Lots of attractions, smaller crowds, lower prices at hotels, restaurants and the like.

The way they see it, in fact, September may be the best month of the entire year to get your travel on, worldwide.

For a region-by-region LP breakdown of the factors that make September a month to give your suitcase a workout, click here.

THE NORTHERN ROUTE
Back in the day, a little-known way of saving money on flights from North America to Europe was to go via national flag carriers from the northern reaches of the mid-Atlantic. The principal vehicle for this was Icelandair, the national airline of Iceland.

According to the Godfather of Travel, Arthur Frommer, this gambit still works today, but via a different airline.

The best way to save on airfares these days from the States to Europe, he says, to is to begin your journey in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, via the national Finnish airline, Finnair.

You may need to do a stopover in Helsinki to complete your onward journey, bt that’s not necessarily a disadvantage. If anything, it has the added benefit of introducing you to an intriguing part of Europe often overlooked by Americans.

For more details on this northern air route to European air bargains, click here.

WANT TO RAISE YOUR VOICE?
According to msnbc, recently concluded meeting of heavyweight policymakers in airport security, immigration and border control came to a conclusion that should not have required a meeting to reach:

When you travel, the quality of your experience matters.

I can hear your teeth gnashing already as you recall your most recent exercise in traveler’s frustration. I myself would love to have had the chance to introduce them to the blue-uniformed stone-faced Sphinx I recently encountered at the San Ysidro border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana.

But I’d much rather hear from you.

What changes in immigration and customs procedures would you most like to see that would make for a better travel experience?

I’ll be collecting your thoughts, suggestions and ideas until Sept. 30. The best answers will be featured here on IBIT, and also compiled into a report which I will send personally those same policymakers.

Send your ideas and suggestions via email.

Meanwhile, you can read the short msnbc story on the meeting here.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST
And finally, no need to remind you what day this is, or what happened ten years ago.

9/11. The Twin Towers. Al Qaeda. All of that.

We’ve heard a lot of talk about how the world changed on that day. In a decade of traveling since then, I found the world generally to be the same mix of good and evil that it’s always been.

In that same time, I’ve watched us use our newfound fears to justify old-school discrimination and prejudice against anyone perceived as “different.” Seen us frisk little girls and search babies in their diapers at airports, decide that torturing people was okay.

The world didn’t change on 9/11. We did. Mostly for the worse.

So I’m thinking this is a good day to think about who we want to be as a nation. Because in truth, America is the world’s greatest ongoing experiment in nation-building — and the experiment is far from finished.

Those who died on this day weren’t soldiers fighting for a cause. They were largely regular folks like the rest of us — all races, and all religions, just trying to make it.

The best way we can honor them, I think, would be to live our own lives the best we can, treat one another the best we can, and try in our own lives to uphold all those high-sounding values we so often proclaim to the world.

Ultimately, history will judge us not on whether we remember what happened ten years ago today, but on what we do with the memory.



And now, here’s this week’s Digest:

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AIR
from USA Today
United Air Lines says it’s committed to maintaining its Denver hub. The size of that hub, however, is shrinking. That means fewer flights to and from the Mile High City.

from WhichBudget.com
ATRA, the Air Transport Rating Agency of Switzerland, lists the ten safest airlines in the world. Finally, a reason to feel good about US-based airlines.

from the Associated Press via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
On the other hand, is the rush to automate airline cockpits eroding the stick-and-rudder flying skills of airline pilots?

LAND
from Agence France Presse via France 24
Recession? Terrorism? Who cares? According to the UN’s World Tourism Organuization, international travel for the first half of 2011 is up nearly 5 percent, with South America and sub-Saharan Africa leading the way.

from the New York Times
For the last few years, some small but tech-savvy car-sharing services like Zipcar have been quietly taking a bite out of the rental car business. Now the big boys are firing back, and it’s the biggest of them all that’s leading the charge.

from The Economist (London UK)
Where are the world’s ten most liveable cities? According to The Economist, four are in Australia and a fifth is in New Zealand. Of the rest, three are in Canada and two in Europe. The United States? Dont ask.

from BBC Travel
I’ve said it before: There’s something about a train station. The BBC agrees, and offers proof. SLIDESHOW

SEA
from Atlas Cruises and Tours
Is there really such a thing as free activities aboard a cruise ship? Not only is the answer “yes,” but the list is varies, and rather long.

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AFRICA
from the Daily Champion (Kenya) via allAfrica.com
Kenya Airways is out to become Africa’s air connection to the rest of the world, with Nairobi as its hub. To that end, they’re looking to double the size of aircraft their fleet within five years.

from the News Junky Journal
According to South African research, African tourism grew by more than 10 percent in the first five months of this year. Leading the charge were Tanzania, Malawi, Ghana and Botswana.

from the ​Times of Oman
Kenya reaches out to — and into — wealthy Oman is search of tourists.

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AMERICAS/CARIBBEAN
from BBC Travel
Prohibition my be just a memory, but the underground drinking culture it inspired via the speakeasy still lives — in Philadephia.

from the New York Times
The Dose Market in Chicago is taking the flea market concept and running with it, uptown and upscale.

from the ​San Francisco Chronicle
Lots of tourists fly over or cruise past Hawaii’s active volcanoes. Not many get a look at one from the inside. But you can.

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ASIA/PACIFIC
from NHK World (Japan)
All but forgotten amid the global 9/11 hype, Japan pauses to mark the six-month anniversary of its devastating earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster.

from Gadling
There may be more than one Great Wall of China.

from The Guardian (London UK)
Would you take a kayak out into the ocean at night, just to look at the stars? You might if you were in New Zealand.

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EUROPE
​from Rick Steves via the Huffington Post
You’re in Paris for the first time, finally, and the Eiffel Tower is high on your list, even if it’s just to get it out of the way. You can wait in the long high-season lines with everyone else, or you can follow Rick’s advice here.

from Ma View Francaise/My French Life
An expat offers up a decidedly unromantic view of life in the City of Light. Prepare to have a few bubbles burst (or not).

from Nomadic Matt
One of my buds in the travel blogosphere recounts his experiences traveling through Ukraine.

from the New York Times
Catalonia — hiking in the shadow of Spanish volcanoes.

the SUNDAY TRAVEL DIGEST

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THE WORLD AS YOUR CLASSROOM
The more you travel, the more you want to learn — and vice versa.

We all have our fantasies. I’ve had this one for years: Take America’s mothball fleet of naval transport ships out of mothballs, rebuild/refurbish them and convert them into floating high school/colleges/universities/adult schools. Turn the world’s seas into America’s classrooms.

For years, I resented the fact that the Semester at Sea program got started after I got my bachelor’s degree. I would’ve loved to do something like this, or SEA Semester, or SEAmester.

But whether on sea or on land, getting an education away from home is almost guarantee to broaden your view of life, and the world.

Indeed, thousands of young people around the world, coming out of high school, make travel a part of their college education. Many of the world’s great universities have a quarter or more of their student bodies composes of foreign students.

But not everyone thinks that education need take place in a formal school setting. Sofia of AsWeTravel.com is opting for travel as an alternative to university. She has her reasons, and she lays them out here.

See if you agree.

WHY AMERICANS DON’T TRAVEL
At least, in the views of one Matt Kepnes, aka nomadicmatt.com. He listed what he sees as the most common excuses on the Huffington Post.

It leads to a very interesting mix of comments.

And now, here’s this week’s Digest:

AIR
from Smarter Travel
Good news and bad news for fans of Southwest Airlines — They’re upsizing their fleet of Boeing 737 jets. What do bigger Southwest planes mean to you? Maybe a flight on your favorite airline to Hawaii. So what’s the bad news? You’ll have to wait until 2012.

SEA
from Frommer’s Travel
The number of cruise lines cutting some slack for the single cruise traveler continues to grow. The latest to offer reduced rates for solo cruisers: Italy’s MSC Cruises.

from HouseMusicCruise.com
Love to cruise? Love old school “house music” jams? These folks have got you covered. Circle the month of May and start packing. Not sure what “house music” is? Odds are you’ve heard it, maybe plenty of it, without realizing it. Here’s a comprehensive definition.

LAND
from Got Saga
Ten really cool places in the world where you can’t drive a car…but you can ride a bike.

from GotSaga
Every great city in the world has at least one really cool, visually appealing and refreshing place to take a walk. The GS folks offer up these ten, including one in Pakistan.

from CheapOAir
What, another list? Yes, this one being Cheapo’s collection of top ten European Christmas markets. How can they not include Strasbourg?

AFRICA
from the Guardian (London, UK)
Paris has L’Opera. Gaborone, capital city of Botswana, has the No. 1 Ladies’ Opera House. Seating capacity: 52, including royal box. Dinner and bush tea included with the shiow. They claim to be the world’s smallest opera house, and it’s a claim that may be hard to dispute. If the name reminds you of a certain HBO detective series, it’s not a coincidence.

from Lonely Planet via BBC Travel
Take your own voyage back in time aboard a spice boat from Mombasa to Zanzibar, part of your exploration of Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. Be sure to include the Lamu archipelago, a pearl of Swahili culture in danger of being developed to death.

AMERICAS
from MSNBC Travel
Not everyone is waiting for President Obama to drop the trade embargo; more Americans are already traveling to Cuba.

from the Guardian (London, UK)
Real Mexican food — as opposed to that…stuff…you get from places like Taco Bell, is one of only two national cuisines in the world officially listed as an “intangible cultural heritage” by the UN (the other is French. Shocking, I know…). To understand why, pack up your tastebuds and head for the foodie capital of Mexico, Oaxaca.

ASIA/PACIFIC
from Canada’s Adventure Couple
It seems that China didn’t drown everything when they built their massive — and massively controversial — Three Gorges Dam. This place of worship was rescued from its doomed location, moved to a safe spot and rebuilt.

from Lonely Planet via BBC Travel
A primer on riding the rails in India, the subcontinent in microcosm. On these trips, the journey may actually outdo the destination. And in India, that’s saying something.

EUROPE
from AP Travel via MSNBC
We’ve told you before here on IBIT about currency cards. We’ve told you before about microchip card technology. On your next trip to Europe, if you plan on using your plastic in vending machines or other transaction machines that don’t have a human being standing close by to help you out, you may need a card that combines the two.

from USA Today
Living like a local in Paris can mean not only a better experience than the ones the tourists get, but also saving you some money.

from Uncornered Market
You’re going to love this — a panoramic look around Riga, capital of Latvia. And when they say panorama…well, just look for yourself!

from EuropeBudgetGuide.com
Tuscany on the cheap. Yes, it can be done.

the SUNDAY TRAVEL DIGEST

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The good, the bad and the bizarre from the world of travel

Today, the 2010 Tour de France bicycle race makes its traditional triumphant finish in Paris. Millions will watch, not just on television screens around the world, but on the streets of Paris itself.

If you’d like to get your own taste of this great event, you haves two basic options, one of which is to do your own non-racing bike tour of France that either precedes or follows the Tour de France race course. The route changes somewhat every year and often winds through more countries than just France.

There are several bike tour companies on either side of the Atlantic that can hook you up. They organize your overnight stays, provide ride leaders who double as bike mechanics. They also may provide van to carry your luggage — and if you run out of gas, carry both you and your bike. They may even rent you a bike and other gear for the trip.

You can go for a few days, a week, longer. It’s up to you.

For a trip this epic, you might feel more comfortable bringing your own bike. I certainly would. But traveling with your own wheels comes with some pretty annoying, and expensive, tradeoffs:

1) You have to box up your bike for shipment

2) To box it up, you have to partly dismantle it

3) You have to pay what could be a pretty steep cargo fee to the airline — and then trust your bike to the less-than-tender mercies of baggage handlers.

What’s more, about the only way to guarantee that your precious machine won’t arrive in pieces is to buy a bike case. That, plus the shipping cost, could match or even exceed what you paid for your ticket — or your bike.

Still, how maybe times in your life will you get the chance to say “I rode the Tour de France course?” For cyclists, even out-of-shape old amateurs like me, that’s about as close to a Holy Grail as you’ll ever get.

If you’re not feeling that athletically ambitious, you could simply fly to Paris and be there for the day of the final.
Even here, you have options.

You could join the million or so Parisians and others lining the Champs Elysees as the racers sprint to the finish. You could position yourself within sight of the podium for an up-close glimpse of the awards ceremonies.

You could book yourself a hotel room overlooking the Champs Elysees and watch as the racers take several laps of the grand boulevard below you.

Or you could find a cool cafe with a wide-screen TV and take it all in over a nice French wine or a glass of kir — and then spend the next few days enjoying Paris.

Whichever option you select, there are travel agents who can help set it up for you.

I can think of worse ways — and worse places — to spend a Sunday afternoon.


And now, here’s this week’s Digest:

from SmarterTravel
ST’s Ed Perkins takes a look at the fine print in cruise contracts. From the standpoint of you, the traveler, there’s not much “fine” about it.

from SmarterTravel
It’s one of the most crucial questions of this or any summer: Who has America’s best ice cream shops? The ST folks take a whack — or a lick — at the answer. PHOTO GALLERY

AFRICA
from The Observer (London, UK)
You know those luxurious safaris you hear about in places like Botswana? These are the other guys. Short on luxury, but long on breathtaking experience.

AMERICAS
from the New York Times
The Europeans don’t have a monopoly on houseboats. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a haven for recreational boaters who like their aquatic fun slow and easy.

from Budget Travel
According to a survey of BT readers, these are the ten coolest small towns in America. See if you agree.

ASIA/PACIFIC
from the Observer (London, UK)
Ever wonder what it might be like to travel around Korea…North Korea? The British have package tours. What was that again about mad dogs and Englishmen…

EUROPE
from the New York Times
Always world-renowned for its tapas, the cuisine of Spain is undergoing a transformation under the influence of its immigrants. The results, says the Times’ Andrew Ferren, are as diverse as they are delicious.

And finally, there was this. I couldn’t bring myself to list it anywhere other than last:

from WENN.com
According to a poll conducted by these guys, the “perfect summer vacation buddy” is…wait for it…Paris Hilton. Something called Tila Tequila was second, followed by Kim Kardashian and Diddy — or whatever he’s calling himself this week.

I can’t imagine many things that could get me to voluntarily give up travel for life, but this comes pretty close Okay, see you next week!

The United States — a mixed welcome

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Increased red tape to visit the United States has fewer travelers coming here…and we’re all paying for it

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama signed into law the Travel Promotion Act.

Good. Our beat-up economy can use all the tourist dollars we can get, especially when more than half the 50 states have economies wholly or partly dependent on tourism. So come to the United States. See our great country, our beautiful lands, our historic sites. Meet our terrific people. Have a ball. Spend money.

But first, cough up $130 for a visa, one each for every member of your family. And prepare to be hassled and humiliated in the process.

Arthur Frommer, the Godfather of Travel, pointed out recently that since 9/11, the United States has been charging a $130 visa fee to visitors in a lot of countries which were ever levied a visa fee before.

UNLIKELY CANDIDATES
We’re not just talking about countries like Yemen or Indonesia or Kyrgyzstan. We’re talking about Chile and Brazil and Argentina, nations that don’t exactly have a reputation for nurturing terrorists.

In fact, if you’re coming from virtually anywhere other than Western Europe and a handful of countries in Asia and the Pacific, prepare to ante up.

Most of Asia and…all of Latin America? All of Africa? Really?

Okay, we know why Sudan is on this list — Darfur, anyone? Somalia, sure. Given our testy relations with Cuba and Venezuela, even that would have a certain logic to it. And anyone who’s seen the roster of the 9/11 hijackers knows why Saudi Arabia gets this treatment.

But Costa Rica? Botswana? The Seychelles? Fiji?

Imagine yourself with a family of four or six. You’re $520 or $780 out of pocket — and you haven’t even left home yet. And that doesn’t take into account the hassle and cost of traveling to the city where the U.S. Embassy or consulate is located, then waiting in a hotel while your visa is processed.

But it’s not just the money. You may be forced to wait for weeks to make an appointment…just to go through the time-sucking process of applying for a US visa.

You also will be fingerprinted, as if you were a criminal. No fingerprint, no visa, period.

So while you’ve got American business practically begging foreigners to come here, you’ve got the U.S. government doing this stuff. it’s called a mixed message, and definitely not one that encourages visits to the United States.

RETALIATION
Why is any of this your problem?

It really isn’t — unless you plan on traveling abroad yourself, or unless you just slipped a tax payment check into the envelope along with your Form 1040.

According to Frommer, a lot of the countries whose citizens are now charged $130 for a U.S. visa have decided that turnabout is fair play — and profitable fair play, at that.

Welcome to Rio de Janeiro. That’ll be $150, please — per person, of course.

That’s money you could’ve spent on clubbing in Rio or Amazon River tours or capoeira lessons — or maybe just your airfare.

Some might call this payback. Others would call it blowback. Either way, it’s money you won’t get back. And it’s making it that much harder for already cash-strapped Americans to travel.

And they’re not alone. Foreign visits to the United States have dropped the last three years running. Instead of submitting to fees and fingerprinting, foreign travelers increasingly are giving America “the finger” by staying home or going elsewhere.

When tourism is either the first, second or third-largest employer in 29 out of 50 U.S. states, that’s a problem.

Need another reason to give a damn? According to the U.S. Travel Association, the average American household would be paying out $950 a year in additional income taxes were it not for the money poured into our economy by tourism.

These measures may have been meant to slam the door on would-be terrorists, but they’re catching all our fingers in it.