Visit the Beautiful U.S.

One of the biggest drains on U.S. gold --more than all the money spent by military dependents--is the flood of tourists who flock to Europe each year and leave behind them some $600 million. One way to get the gold back is to lure European tourists to the U.S. Two years ago President Eisenhower named 1960 as "Visit U.S.A. Year" and promised potential travelers that "all of us here will do everything in our power to make your visit pleasant and memorable."

Unfortunately, many a foreigner gets the distinct impression that the U.S. would rather he stayed home.

European, Jack. He begins to get that hostile feeling when he learns that every prospective visitor to the U.S. must call in person at the nearest U.S. consulate for a visa (visas have all but vanished in Western Europe). If lucky, the hopeful traveler will only have to answer the 15 questions listed on the "simplified" application form, which asks the traveler to give his nationality, complexion, race and ethnic classification. One bewildered applicant answered race with "skiing and bobsledding." A French student came closer by stating that he belonged to the Latin race. The consular aide put him straight, telling him that he was a Caucasian. "I said I'd never heard of the Cauca sian race," reports the student, "but they told me that was beside the point. I asked what ethnic classification meant. They said, 'Well, you should know your own ethnic class.' I said I'd never really given it much thought. The man said, 'You're European, Jack.' I said, 'Oh?' and he said, 'Sure.' Before I left, the man told me, 'If you have any questions, call me up. Ask for Mr. Moscowitz--if I'm not here, ask for Mr. Corelli.' "

Immoral Sex. If consular officials think a foreign applicant looks in any way untrustworthy or insincere, they can run him through the ordeal of Form FS-257AF, which begins by ominously barring from U.S. shores anyone who has been insane, had a criminal background or who "will engage in immoral sexual acts." The victim must put down not only his name but also all the "other names" by which he has been known, and list in order each street address, town, province and country in which he has resided for six months or more since his 16th birthday. He must, of course, tell whether he is, or ever has been, a Communist or a member of any Communist-affiliated organization.

He is also required to list the names of all organizations, with inclusive dates, to which he has belonged since he was 16 years old. On demand, he must give his present monthly income, the amount of cash deposited in banks and an estimate of the value of his other assets. Said a British applicant: "It made me feel like a refugee from Dragnet." In defense of the system a U.S. consul in The Netherlands said, "If we abolished the visa tomorrow, 20,000 Filipinos and 20,000 Italians would travel to the U.S. without a penny in their pockets."

Yet even successfully hurdling this snarl of red tape does not guarantee entry into the U.S. When the tourist, clutching his hard-won visa, sets foot in the States, he comes under the scrutiny of an immigration officer who has the power to reverse the decision of the consular officials abroad and send the luckless traveler away as unfit to enter the land of the free and the home of the brave. Should the tourist stay more than 30 days, he cannot then leave the U.S. until he stands in line at a federal tax bureau and gets a stamped paper declaring that he does not owe any taxes to the U.S. Government.

Free Picks. Every year 2,500.000 Britons holiday abroad but only some 86,000 visit the U.S. More than 200,000 Germans coold easily afford a U.S. tour, but this year only 28,000 came. Prospective visitors to the U.S. grope blindly for information. There is no U.S. National Travel Agency, no U.S. guidebooks like Europe's Baedekers and Guides Bleus. Said a London travel agent: "For Turin or Tokyo or just about any place in thg world, we have reams of information. On Los Angeles or San Francisco, about all we can get is a street map."

As a result, Europeans fear that a U.S. trip would be prohibitively expensive, are unaware that they can live, travel and eat at least as cheaply in the U.S. as on the French Riviera. No U.S. Government effort is made to advertise the nation's attractions or to encourage travel agencies to offer package tours or special tourist rates. One inquiring traveler was brusquely told: "Do you want other people picking out hotels and restaurants for you? One of the great things about the U.S. is that we allow people to pick out their own hotels and restaurants."

It is scarcely surprising that the "Visit U.S.A. Year" has been a flop. Even though prospective tourists no longer must submit to fingerprinting and swear they will not try to kill the President, many feel that the effort still involved is not worth it. Washington seems to agree: when the President's tourist program was announced in 1958, Congress only failed to appropriate any money but went on to cut the budget of the State Department's International Travel Office by 40%.

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