OCR Text |
Show How. Wi We V II States. Many are doing wonderful things: A New York cabbie picked up a Dutch couple who, asked to be. taken to Radio City "and the United Nations. "You folks sit back and relax," he said as he turned off his meter. "I want to ve them show you a cltyTm proud6f-He-droaround New York all day without charge!- A Midwest family out for a ride encountered four French college boys. .They took them home and entertained them for a week., A Los Angeles bachelor met three visiting engineers. When he left for his vacation a few" days later, he gave them his apartment to use. A Pennsylvania housewife asked a dozen newspapers in Germany to publish her address so any hausfrau touring the Keystone State 4 would be sure to drop in for coffee. And 48 families in Miami invited a Wanderstudents from South ing band of 48 high-schoAmerica to move in with them for two weeks. These warmhearted gestures are in the best U.S. tradition. But there is much more. Our government has5 discarded the lengthy, embarrassing visa questionnaire which infuriated so many visitors. It has been replaced by a simple form that is smaller than a postal card. At major ports of entry, the US. Immigration Service has stationed receptionists who can greet visitors in from two to five languages. Bankers are providing' airport money-changifadlitiethours when transoceanic planes arrive. Merchants are learning to quote prices in pounds, francs, and lire. And hotel managers are full of plans to hire staff interpreters, equip their front desks with multilingual cards studded with phrases that .will help visitors, and provide booklets explaining such Yankee oddimarkets, eating in automats, ties as and drinking tap water (it's safe here!). V (BE ' 1, s- - istts? tout 'MM y ol ,n w v 'Mil By VOIT GILMORE Director, U. S. Travel Service With a little brushing up on our hospitality, ng says this expert, we can give visitors from abroad the welcome as well as the sights of a lifetime w director of the United States Travel Service 10 months and 80,000 travel miles ago, people warned that trouble lay ahead. HEN I BECAME "Foreign tourists won't come to the United States," they predicted gloomily. I was told about German visitors -- who had received tickets for jaywalking and French tourists who had beeri questioned by police for trying to exchange francs for dollars. It was argued that our customs are too exasperating for foreign visitors. Frenchmen take pains to see that each wine is served at the right temperature; some Americans serve every variety as cold as soda pop. A European desk clerk n languages; some of ours speaks a struggle even with English. Italians love to relax at the table after a long lunch; we eat and run, sped on our way by a hovering waiter and a management that expects a fast turnover. But I have learned that this is only, part of the story. Despite such differences, the U.S.A. is the place millions of people around the world want mosto see. No matter how we may differ from ttyem, they want to taste our excitement and see what makes us tick. Congress last year took a giant step toward helping, the UJ3.A. get a larger share of the half-doze- booming international travel, business by creating the U.S. Travel Service and authorizing it offices abroad. to open The move is paying off. This year an unprecedented number of foreign tourists are coming to the United States. For instance, 2,000 of them will be here to attend the International Conference of National Machine Accountants; 4,000 for the International College of Surgeons meeting;, and 3,000 for a food conference. travel-promoti- self-servi- ce on Foreign we Americans may need to polish here and there, we need Although hospitality not apologize for our Vtourist plant." It is first-ratOverseas visitors already have shown their approval of it, by their uninhibited rush for rooms, with free soap, and television, which cost no more than ancient Old World accommodations; by driving down superhighways in the world's finest cars using gasoline that costs only half what it does in Europe; by swimming in e. propagandists still say are anti-Americ- an The Department of Commerce estimates that the average foreign visitor spends $500 during his American vacation; By .attracting a mere two dozen tourists a day, a city beriefits as much as it would by bringing in a new industry with an annual payroll of '$100,000. Increasing tourism can also improve our foreign relations by correcting the twisted images in the minds of many people abroad. After a Florida holiday, a Latin American visitor declared, "I'm amazed that the United And to see whites States isn't gangster-riddeand Negroes living peacefully in the same town was a big surprise. I thought you were always fighting each other." As he took his reluctant departure, a young Italian architect said, "America is an artist's heaven, vibrantly alive and responsive. It's ahead of us in the arts." Yes, the tourists are coming. Our price is right. Our attractions are second to none. And if I know Americans, our guests will be met everywhere by a welcoming hand. Friendly Americans will win 'America friends I n. pools which Old World hotels and motels have yet to exploit widely; by camping in national and state parks that have unsurpassed roominess and scenic wonders; by shopping in supermarkets which tourism can be very profitable to a "nonexistent" Just as important as these wonders are the 186 million John and Jane Does of the United 3 COVER: Roger Maris, photographed by Ozzie Sweet, teas the idol of 'baseball fans a year ago a sure winner over Mickey Mantle in any popularity poU, That's not so today. For "The Story Behind the Boos," see page 18. UONAKD t. OAVIDOW Prrmdent md rbtuker I jt s, mi loard of Editor EtNEST V. KlYN Bdilor-in-ChIEN KAtTMAM Ettculit Editor Viet PmUrnt Editor I01ERT FtTZOIUON f ATIIOC t. 01001X1 Advertising Dirrrtor MAtOAtET IELI Fctur Editor - MOtTON ftAKK tXrtetor of PuhlUker Rrioliom fHillir OYKSTtA AH Dirtctor MILAN! E 01 fROfT Food Editor $tsd all expediting communication! to family WtoUy, III. Avo 1. N. Michigan Chicago tSJ lotatyn Abrooy, Ardon EloVtt, JoKa Hochmarm, Hal Addmt oil comwMinScatioi about odUartol fvotvrvi H Y. N. 22. Tori 56th 60 Ntw t. . loodon, Jack tyonj rW J. Opotnhotfnor, Hollywood. $ family Wwkty, 1U2, fAMIlY WEEKIY KAQAZIKt, INC. 155 N. MkWoon Av CHkooo 1, III. All righto mfvd. WAUEt C DREYFUS UgiQ |