According to a new survey, foreign travelers would rather avoid traveling to the United States due to long wait times and complicated entry procedures.
According to a survey cited by USA Today, 43 percent of travelers who have been to the US say they're going to tell their neighbors not to visit the US because of the airport entry process.
The survey includes 1,200 travelers from Britain, France, Germany, Japan, China and Brazil who traveled from January through October 2012.
One-third of travelers said the U.S. is behind other countries or the worst the ever experienced due to the complicated U.S. Customs and Border Protection procedure. Business travelers were particularly turned off by the process at 44 percent said they won't return to the US within the next five years.
One in seven foreign travelers said they didn't like the process because they missed a connecting flight because of the lengthy Customs process. Two-thirds said they'd consider traveling back to the US if the Customs lines weren't so long.
During the Customs process when international travelers enter the US, they often face long wait times as they have to get their passports inspected and declare any goods that they might have. They often have their bags inspected as Customs officers look for illegal items like drugs or certain food items.
The wait time can vary depending on the airport but some foreign travelers recall waiting as long as two to three hours.
"Not only are people saying bad things about us, but they're actually changing their travel behavior," Bob Perkins, president of Consensus Research Group said, according to USA Today.
According to the survey, foreign travelers from France, Germany and Britain decreased. There was a 17 percent decrease in visitors from France, a seven percent decrease in those from Germany and a five percent decrease from British visitors.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
