Did Chicago lose the chance to host the 2016 Olympics because of airport security issues?
Among the toughest questions posed to the Chicago bid team this week in Copenhagen was one that raised the issue of what kind of welcome foreigners would get from airport officials when they arrived in this country to attend the Games. Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, in the question-and-answer session following Chicago’s official presentation, pointed out that entering the United States can be “a rather harrowing experience.”
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“It’s clear the United States still has a lot of work to do to restore its place as a premier travel destination,” Roger Dow, U.S. Travel’s president, said in the statement released today. [...] International travel to the U.S. declined by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009 according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
#2 So comrade Alfredi, did you buy your tickets to Rio ahead of time? Nice patriotism there.
Are you now going to demonstrate how much you love america by going to afghanistan and kill some G.I.’s?
#39 As I think had been said before here. The TSA is not the only moronic airport force you’ll find. Europe is full of them. And you’re most likely to lose a flight in Brazil with their idiotic screeners then you would in the US.
I wonder how the 2014 Olympics in Russia will treat visitors.
The IOC was probably getting payback because both Obama and Clinton insisted on boycotting the Beijing Olympics.
They didn’t come to Chicago because it is the most mobbed up city in America.