The announcement by President Barack Obama Thursday at the Magic Kingdom about his executive order to begin the process of making it easier for residents of certain countries (Brazil, China, and India) to come to the United States can only help Central Florida tourist economy and job creation efforts.

We don’t see the announcement and the president’s visit to Central Florida as a campaign stop for the November election – as some Republicans have charged – given that the changes put in place by his executive order have been in the works for quite some time. Last fall, members of our own Osceola County Tourist Development Council agreed to sign a letter of support urging federal officials to make the visa application process easier for foreign residents to spend their vacations in the United States.

The Smarter Visa Policy Now campaign, which the U.S. Travel Association spearheaded, was intended to convince federal lawmakers to streamline the visa application process, which local tourism officials described as expensive and cumbersome with an average wait time in multiple months. The problem is that lawmakers failed to act on this badly needed change.

As an example of a need for change, local tourism officials said the typical cost for a Brazilian family of four to get visas was about $2,600, which would include a $150 application cost per visa along with the average cost of travel within Brazil to a U.S. consular office where visas interviews are conducted. Making it easier for Brazilians to come to the United States would translate into many new jobs and significant additional economic activity locally, since our region’s theme parks are a major destination already for this South American country with a booming economy.

Shelley Maccini, director of the Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau, at the council meeting where this issue was discussed said the reduced wait times could be achieved by allowing video conferencing instead of face-to-face meetings with consular staff and by the federal government hiring more staff to handle applications. That certainly is a reasonable move and would pay for itself many times over through increased economic activity and new jobs.

Maccini also said part of the association’s push would be to include Brazil and other countries as visa-waiver countries, which means those residents would be able to visit the United States for short periods with only their passports.

The bottom line is that we believe the president’s action will be good for our country’s and our county’s economy.