US eyes to boost its tourism sector

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Agencies: Washington, Oct 03 2012, 12:57 IST
The US has stepped up its effort to attract more foreign tourists, in particular those from countries like India, China and Brazil, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasising on the need for a hassle fee visa processing and entry programmes for tourists.

"We want to use our global reach and our diplomatic tools to help drive that economic growth here at home and to advance our strategic interests around the world," Clinton told a meeting of strategic dialogue on travel and tourism.

"And encouraging travel and tourism moves us toward these goals. The average tourist from overseas spends USD 4,000 in the United States. In July of this year, foreign tourists spent nearly USD 14 billion here," she said, adding that for every 65 international visitors, one American job is created.

"In the last year, visitors from just China and Brazil supported more than 40,000 American jobs. And the number of tourists bound for the United States is growing all the time. So in addition to trying to ease the way for Americans to travel, we have matched that commitment with trying to ease the way for foreigners to travel here," Clinton said.

The United States, she said, is making it easier for tourists to get here.

"We have sped up visa processing times at our posts around the world - like in Sao Paulo in Brazil, it once took 140 days to get a visa, that time is now under 48 hours; or in China, where the average wait time is five days,

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