Planned reforms to the US visa system have been welcomed by the US Travel Association.
The Senate in Washington is to consider a bill covering a range of measures to improve the system for international travellers to America.
A committee vote for the 2012 State Department Foreign Operation Bill takes the country one step closer to welcoming more international visitors, creating more jobs and seeing billions in economic benefits, according to the US Travel Association.
President and chief executive Roger Dow said: “Increasing travel to the United States is the most effective form of economic stimulus, but for far too long the US visa system has stood as a barrier for travel to the US.
“We applaud the Senate Appropriations Committee for initiating these important reforms to the US visa system, and we urge the full Senate to quickly pass this bill so we can welcome more travellers to the US, which will create much needed US jobs.”
The proposed changes will improve efficiency of the US visa process for legitimate international visitors while at the same time maintaining – and in some cases increasing – security, the organisation claimed.
Recapturing America’s share of worldwide overseas travel would create up to an additional 1.3 million jobs by 2020 compared with 2010 and produce $859 billion in cumulative additional economic output, according to the US Travel Association.