OLYMPIA – A federal proposal to require those traveling in and out of the country to present passports is causing tremors in both British Columbia and Washington state.
Tourism industry leaders in this state and the Canadian province warn that thousands of people will decide not to visit and millions of dollars of income will be lost if the Department of Homeland Security proceeds with enforcement starting Jan. 1, 2007.
This week, Gov. Christine Gregoire and Premier Gordon Campbell are expected to co-sign a letter to the federal agency expressing their shared concern about the potential economic hit on both sides of the border.
“We have to have security, there is no question about that,” Gregoire said. “On the other hand, can we have security to the point where we can really harm the economies?”
Jarrod Agen, a Homeland Security Department spokesman, said the intent is not to impede trade in the name of protecting citizens.
“Even the president himself has said he doesn’t want it to stifle flow at the border and affect the economy and trade,” Agen said.
All accounts so far indicate that the passport requirement would do just that.
A July report by the Canadian Tourism Commission predicts 7.7 million fewer Americans would visit Canada in the following three years as a result of the change. Of those, 1.3 million would be travelers to British Columbia. On the reverse side, the commission estimated a drop of 3.5 million trips from Canada to the U.S., with tens of thousands of them headed to Washington.
The report cited a decline this year as travelers without passports altered their plans, thinking the law already had taken effect.
Darrell Bryan, executive vice president and general manager of Victoria Clipper, said ferry ridership into Canadian ports is down compared with 2004, even as numbers have increased on routes within Washington.
Throughout the summer, passengers were surveyed on how they might respond if required to carry a passport. He said 17 percent replied they would not travel to Canada.
“Seventeen percent would put us out of business,” Bryan said. “We want to find ways to enhance security at the border, but we don’t believe security should trump trade. There has to be a balance.”
The passport requirement is an aftershock of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and was recommended by the Sept. 11 commission.
Known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, The Homeland Security and the State departments proposed it in April.
It requires citizens of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Central and South America to have passports showing their identity and nationality when entering this country.
Enforcement would begin in 2007 for those traveling by air or sea, and one year later at land border crossings.
The department invited public comment on the proposal. More than 500 letters arrived from business groups and government coalitions nationwide. Most urged that the effective date be the same for all modes of travel and the date of implementation be pushed back pending a study of economic impacts.
“From the tourism perspective, security is critical. A terrorist attack is the worst thing,” said Paul Vallee, executive vice president of Tourism Vancouver, one of the Canadian organizations that responded. “The more security, the better tourism will be in the long run.”
No one called for the rules to be dropped, but many questioned their worth.
The proposal arrived with no public debate or evidence that it would increase safety, said Ken Oplinger, president and chief executive officer of the Bellingham-Whatcom Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“I don’t know that requiring soccer moms to have passports will make us safer,” he said, noting that all of the 19 terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks had passports. “It may only give us the illusion we’re safer.”
Oplinger is among a group of business leaders that responded with concern soon after the federal proposal became public. He united with counterparts in cities along the northern border in Michigan, New York and other places to begin lobbying lawmakers to postpone the law until its effects could be assessed.
After much urging from tourism business leaders, Gregoire is beginning to join the fray in a more visible way.
On Nov. 15, she sent a letter to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection calling the passport requirement “burdensome documentation” without “sufficiently accounting for the costs and benefits of this strategy.
Two more letters are expected this week, one co-signed with Campbell, the B.C. premier, and another signed by the governors of Idaho, Montana and Oregon. In January, state legislators will be asked to pass a resolution expressing their concerns.
Tourism is financially rewarding for both countries, from Niagara Falls to Port Angeles. But only a quarter of Americans are estimated to have passports. If those who don’t have them decline to obtain them, at a cost of $100 or more per passport, the effect will be felt throughout the nation.
In Washington state, tourism overall in 2004 accounted for 140,000 jobs and $11 billion in spending, according to a study by Dean Runyan and Associates. Spending in Snohomish County was $683 million, and the tourist job total was 8,490.
Exactly how much of that is from Canadians is unclear, though it’s a sizable amount, especially for border communities such as Blaine and Bellingham.
A report Washington plans to release in December may shed more light. It will show that seven out of 10 international travelers into the state come from Canada, and 94 percent hail from British Columbia.
Canadians’ spending habits vary greatly. Those who spend the day shopping in outlet stores in Whatcom County leave far fewer dollars than those who spend a night in Seattle.
For comparison, a Canadian study found that 580,000 people from Washington visited British Columbia in 2004, spending at least one night and an average of $420 Canadian on the trip.
“It’s a serious concern for us. I can’t really mince words on that,” said Mary Mahon Jones, chief executive officer for the Council of Tourism Associations, the voice of British Columbia’s tourism industry.
She said one U.S. group dropped its plans for a 6,000-person convention in Vancouver in 2010 because organizers feared attendees would drop out rather than hassle with getting passports.
“If we’re getting that stuff, then so is the U.S.,” she said.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@ heraldnet.com.
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