Latest US travel system to boost tourism

The nominal fees, which are raised by people using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), will go towards a new scheme aimed at increasing the promotion for America as a tourist destination. President Obama himself is all set to sign the American Travel Promotion act in the next few days, which will signal the start of the campaign.

ESTA is the online programme that allows overseas visitors to the US permission to enter the country before boarding a plane. The US has come up with this method as a way of speeding up the immigration process for those that reside in visa waiver countries and to detect passengers that may be on a no-fly list in the States.

The Travel Promotion is expecting to raise the tourist numbers to the US by 1.6 million in just a few years. This could lead up to $4 billion in extra spend from these tourists, as well as helping the country start to raise their tourists numbers that have been steadily falling since 2000.