The United States has announced that it's expanding the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which enables citizens of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. Twenty-seven countries currently participate in the program and seven more will now be admitted to join it thanks to the new expansion, which the government has said will improve both tourism and security within the United States."I believe the best foreign policy for America is one that lets people from other countries get to know this country firsthand," President George W. Bush said at a ceremony last week, during which he accepted the Republic of Korea (South Korea), the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia into the VWP, effective Nov. 13. "Extending this opportunity to some of our closest allies deepens our friendship and makes all our countries safer."According to Bush, Americans may already travel to the seven new VWP member countries without a visa. "All of the nations represented here today allow American citizens to travel to their countries visa-free," he said. "For years the leaders of these nations have explained to me how frustrating it is for their citizens to wait in lines and pay visa fees to take a vacation or make a business trip or visit their families here in the United States. These close friends of America told me that it was unfair that their people had to jump through bureaucratic hoops that other allies can walk around. I told them I agree with them."The Travel Industry Association (TIA) has praised the federal government for its actions and says that allowing more international travelers into the country without visas will help the United States attract up to 1 million additional visitors every year."Expansion of the Visa Waiver Program is a momentous leap forward for the American economy and proof that we can simultaneously strengthen America's security and welcome additional visitors," TIA President and CEO Roger Dow said in a statement. "We applaud the administration and Congress for taking this important step in reversing the significant decline in overseas travel to the United States since 9/11."According to the TIA, the United States welcomed 2 million fewer overseas visitors in 2007 than it did in 2000, due in large part to cumbersome security measures and unfriendly international travel policies. The association has worked closely with Congress in the last year to address those issues and make VWP reform possible. As a result, six additional countries—Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Poland and Romania—may soon be included in the VWP. Those nations, Bush said, are currently participating in the "visa waiver road map" process.