Thanks to new passport rules proposed this spring, the cost of a Caribbean cruise, Cancun spring break or Toronto theater weekend could be going up.
Under the security-related initiative scheduled to take effect in stages over the next 2 1/2 years, travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Panama and the Caribbean will require a passport – $97 for adults, $82 for children under 16 – instead of a certified birth certificate or, in some cases, only a driver’s license.
And, some travel industry officials say, the cost could discourage many of the approximately 80 percent of Americans who don’t own passports from vacationing outside U.S. borders.
Only about half of the 4 million U.S. passengers who took Caribbean cruises last year carried passports, estimates Michael Crye of the International Council of Cruise Lines, an Arlington, Va.-based trade group.
“If you’re Joe from Iowa and are considering traveling internationally, this might be a tipping point,” he says.
The lead time needed to acquire a passport – currently, about six to eight weeks – could be a major factor for spur-of-the-moment bargain hunters, adds Tammy Lee of Mark Travel Corp., which sends about 1 million passengers to Mexico each year.
“It could catch last-minute travelers unaware, and people may shift to a domestic destination instead,” says Lee.
Michael Palmer of the Student & Youth Travel Association says the new requirements would have a “devastating” effect on cross-border programs, in large part because most young people don’t carry passports.
“At a time when we’re trying to create mutual understanding of different people and cultures, it’s sending the wrong message,” Palmer says.
But guidebook publisher Lonely Planet, which supports proposed federal legislation to declare September National Passport Month, sees the new rules differently: “We’re excited, because a passport is a sign of freedom,” says Lonely Planet’s Robin Goldberg.
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The details
Passport changes: The U.S. State and Homeland Security departments plan to begin requiring passports for Americans returning from visits to Canada, Mexico and other Western Hemisphere countries.
End of 2005: Travelers entering the United States by air or sea from Bermuda, the Caribbean and Panama.
End of 2006: Travelers entering by air or sea from Canada or Mexico.
End of 2007: All land, air.
