Foreign Shoppers May Add $850B With Obama’s New Visas
By Ashley Lutz - Jan 31, 2012 12:00 AM ET .
Bloomingdale’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Gould is a fan of President Barack Obama’s efforts to speed up tourist visas for Chinese and Brazilian shoppers.
Doing so would create an “immediate” surge in retail sales as foreign shoppers clamor for Marc Jacobs and Kate Spade designs, Gould said in a telephone interview Jan. 27. The department store chain is preparing for a potential boom by tailoring merchandise assortments to Brazilian and Chinese tastes and advertising outside of the U.S. for the first time.
“We’re expecting an enormous uptick in growth,” Gould said from the Bloomingdale’s New York headquarters. “We have the kind of brands that are highly respected by these visitors, and the faster they can get here the better.”
Obama signed an executive order Jan. 19 giving the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State 60 days to come up with a plan to process visa applications from China and Brazil more quickly. The order recommends shortening the process to three weeks from four months. Visa processing capacity in China and Brazil must be increased by 40 percent in the next year, according to the order.
The resulting increase in U.S. tourism could create 1.3 million jobs and add $850 billion to the economy by 2020, the National Retail Federation said in a Jan. 19 report, citing the U.S. Travel Association.
The Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform said Obama’s order, which calls for less stringent screening, increases potential for “terrorism and visa overstays,” the group, which advocates tougher border patrol, said in a statement on its website.
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