Canadian Tourism
There's an ad by the Canadian Tourism Commission on TV, which gives all the great things one can do in Canada. In one shot, it shows a middle-eastern young man, who embraces his father in an airport, saying to the camera: "I can show my family they're welcome here." And I thought, "How silly is that? Where aren't they welcome?", the not-so-obvious answer being: The United States.

How did that happen? The US borders have become difficult to cross for tourists, businessmen, scientists, people of all stripes who come from countries the US holds as suspect. I was at gamma-ray burst conference in New Mexico last summer, and was quite surprised to hear that 2 Chinese astronomers were barred -- no, they're paperwork was not delayed, they were told they could not come -- by the US State department, for a scientific meeting.

So, Canadian tourism is selling itself on its openness as a competitor to American tourism, by being an open, welcoming place, as opposed to the US where, it is implied, such people are not welcome.
- posted by Unknown @ 12/29/2003 07:04:00 AM