US Passport Requirement Affecting Cruise Industry

The Port of Galveston, which has seen explosive growth in the cruise-ship business, is now worried about a little-noticed federal requirement that people traveling by sea or air in the Western Hemisphere have a passport as soon as January.

The possibility of having to pay $100 for a passport instead of showing proof of citizenship for a short cruise to Mexico or the Caribbean that costs $500 could be a deal-breaker. “It becomes sort of cost-prohibitive for first-time cruisers,” said Diane Falcioni, government-affairs manager for the port.

Four cruise lines sail from Galveston — Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Celebrity — with more than 600,000 passengers projected this year, up from 34,000 in 2000.

The proposed rule, issued Aug. 11 by the Homeland Security and State Departments, has roiled the travel industry, especially cruise lines, which would like a later deadline.

“This is going to have a tremendous negative impact potentially on the cruise industry,” said Roger Dow, president of the Travel Industry Association, at a briefing for reporters.

Under the government’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, by Jan. 1, 2008, travelers entering the U.S. by air, land or sea must have passports.

However, the Homeland Security and State Departments want to move up the deadline to Jan. 8, 2007, for air and sea passengers. While airline passengers have passports, Dow said, most cruise passengers do not.

“We know anecdotally that the majority of our passengers do not have passports,” said Jennifer de la Cruz, spokeswoman for Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines. The line, which has two ships serving Galveston year-round, is working with the cruise and travel industries to delay the deadline. “The time frame is a huge concern,” de la Cruz said.

As a result, lawmakers have inserted amendments in bills in Congress that would extend the deadline for all modes of transportation to June 2009.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, supports the effort.

“We are in a war on terror and the senator believes we need to know who comes in and out of our country,” spokesman Marc Short said. “But she shares the concerns of the travel industry with the stated timeline of January 2007.”

Caribbean Press Release

Source: StarTelegram.com