If it wants to stimulate economic growth, the United States must make it easier for international buyers and sellers to participate in American trade shows. So said International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) President Steven Hacker, speaking last week at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Program conference.
"Trade shows and exhibitions have become such a powerful engine of the U.S. economy that for the last seven quarters our growth has substantially exceeded that of the U.S. GDP," Hacker said. "This is a reflection of the vital role that these international trade events based in the U.S. play — despite being thwarted by visa and entry obstacles."
The CSIS conference, titled "Promoting Travel While Protecting National Security: Stimulating Travel, Streamlining Visa Processing and Expanding the Visa Waiver Program," focused on how to increase tourism and business travel without compromising security. It was an outgrowth of President Barack Obama's national travel and tourism strategy, which included an executive order requiring U.S. agencies to expand visa processing capacity in high-growth countries like China and Brazil, and to grow the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which allows eligible travelers from participating nations to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.
Citing data from a 2011 Oxford Economics research study, Hacker pointed out that international buyers and attendees spend an average of $13,600 when they visit a U.S. trade show. International exhibitors, meanwhile, spend an average of $36,100. Removing visa obstacles for both groups would increase sales at U.S. trade shows by $2.6 billion.
Additionally, Hacker said, expanding the VWP would cause new sales to U.S. companies to jump $2.4 billion from the incremental attendance of overseas visitors; sustain 17,500 new jobs directly, and 43,000 jobs overall; and generate $750 million dollars in state and federal taxes.
To realize these and other economic benefits, Hacker said the VWP must be expanded to include "all of the nations around the world with whom the U.S. wishes to engage in international trade." Also, he said, business travelers who routinely conduct business in the United States should be allowed to secure a 10-year visa if their nation signs a special reciprocity agreement. Finally, in order to meet the increased demand for visas, U.S. consular offices should embrace technology such as video interviews and mobile processing vans to reduce wait time for visa issuance to two weeks or 10 business days to reflect the speed with which business transactions are conducted today.
"Buyers and sellers' participation in the U.S. economy is essential if the U.S. is to fully recover from the Great Recession and restore significant forward momentum to the U.S. economy," Hacker said. "Two years remain before the president's goal of doubling U.S. exports expires. Only by pursuing aggressive and creative solutions to the many visa hurdles that have kept so many legitimate business travelers out of the U.S. can we hope to achieve that very challenging goal."