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Shwetha Surendran
WASHINGTON — The U.S. air travel system is inadequately equipped for the millions of visitors expected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics, according to a report released Wednesday by a nonprofit group representing the travel industry.
The U.S. Travel Association report, which was written by a group of former government officials and industry experts, pointed to aging infrastructure, sluggish visa processing times and outdated security technology as the main obstacles in welcoming visitors to the country.
“We’re not ready to host the upcoming mega decade of events that will draw millions of domestic and international travelers. This poses risks to our national security and hampers economic growth,” according to the U.S. Travel Association.
The report estimated that 40 million people could visit the U.S. for the World Cup, the Olympics and Paralympics, the 2025 Ryder Cup and America’s 250th birthday, including 6 million for the World Cup.
U.S. Travel CEO and president Geoff Freeman said that, in 2024, TSA screened more than 3 million passengers on five days, including the pre-Thanksgiving rush. By 2028, they expect to see such numbers on 100 days.
“The message today is clear,” he said Wednesday at a news conference on Capitol Hill. “The status quo is not an option.”
The report recommended the government establish a White House-led task force, create an expedited visitor visa process and modernize airport security by adopting new technology such as biometrics. Freeman told ESPN that his organization has met with White House officials in the past week. Attempts to reach the White House were unsuccessful.
“The president has been outspoken about making this the gold standard of World Cups, the best Olympics that has ever been held,” Freeman said. “To do those things, to achieve those goals, you’ve got to make some of these investments.”
Freeman said slow visa processing times are the “single biggest deterrent to visiting the United States.” According to the State Department, wait times for visitor visas in countries such as Colombia can run up to 700 days.
These delays, if unaddressed, could lead to losses in millions of visitors and close to $19 billion in spending in the next two years, according to an Oxford Economics study cited in the report.
“People want to come, but they’re not coming,” Freeman said. “It gets down to these visa wait times. It gets down to the customs inefficiencies. It gets down to a perception in instances that people aren’t welcome. We’re very concerned.”