Kenya cut its tourist visa fee in half on May 1st. Argentina has yet to begin collecting the $131 entrance fee that was scheduled to begin in January. Could the U.S. benefit from a reduction in its visa fee? I do not deal with many statistics on incoming travelers. I do believe that much of the U.S. tourism industry thinks so.
Wouldn't the U.S. benefit by having money created in other countries spent in the U.S.? Would it not also be some positive U.S. diplomacy? We could spend some of our our stimulus money on a program that is in place now. Plans would not need to be drawn up, then approved, then implemented and then begun. The money would be spent on a program that is already in place.
Reciprocity, when the U.S. government imposes fees on foreign citizens for visas other countries will impose a reciprocal fee to U.S. nationals, would push the benefit up the ladder to benefit the world with an increase in World Trade. In January 2008, within weeks of the U.S. raising its visa application fee to the current $131, all 4 of the BRIC, Brazil, Russia, India and China, had invoked reciprocity and increased their fees. For some countries this was over a 100% increase in fees.
We talk about the world governments needing to prop up economies around the world. Reducing global government fees would appear to be a simple and quick way to get money back in to the hands of businesses, tourists, and students.
International Trade, International Education and International Exploration unite the world socially, improve economies of scale to a global level, and improve humanities collective knowledge.