Sometime before mid-2009, people driving across the Canadian and Mexican borders will have to flash a passport or begin carrying a new federally issued, passport-like identity card, a potentially major change for communities along northern New England's border with Canada.
More immediately, many resorts and tourism promotion authorities are bracing for lost business this winter if large numbers of US citizens balk at the $97 cost and the hassle of getting a passport, which requires getting a special photograph and a copy of a birth certificate. Only one-quarter of US citizens -- who account for the overwhelming majority of international trips -- hold passports.
The Conference Board of Canada, a research group, has predicted the move could reduce by 7.7 million annually the number of US visits by 2008, a $1.8 billion hit on Canada's economy.
To the south, several Caribbean and Mexican resorts -- such as the Our Lucaya Resort on Grand Bahama Island -- are offering $100 credits or discounts intended to offset the cost for visitors from the United States who've had to get a passport.
At the CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, a 433-room oceanfront resort, guests who arrive between Jan. 1 and April 30 whose first passport stamp is at the Puerto Vallarta customs office will also get $100 off. About 20 percent of US visitors to the Pacific Coast tourist hot spot arrive without passports now , and "we're concerned" the new rule could dampen business, said Dennis Whitelaw, manager of the Marriott resort.
In Aruba recently, about 25 percent of US visitors have been arriving without passports, said Gina Lopez-Gnecco of the Aruba Tourism Authority. Several resorts around the Dutch colony off the coast of Venezuela are offering food, beverage, and room credits -- and at the Boardwalk Boutique Hotel, a $50-per-person car-rental voucher for week-long guests -- to ease any financial sting from getting a passport.
