I remember David Knudson of the National Historic Route 66 Federation commenting not long ago that the number of foreign travelers on the Mother Road had taken a big decline since the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Turns out it wasn’t Knudson’s imagination, nor was Route 66 the only tourism casualty of 9/11. This startling report came out today from the AFP wire:

“Since September 11, 2001, the United States has experienced a 17 percent decline in overseas travel, costing America 94 billion dollars in lost visitor spending, nearly 200,000 jobs and 16 billion dollars in lost tax revenue,” the Discover America advocacy campaign said in a statement.

Chairman Stevan Porter lamented the “extraordinary decline” in the number of overseas visitors to the United States, while the advocacy group’s executive director, Geoff Freeman, blamed the slump on the shabby welcome many foreigners feel they get in the United States.

“It’s clear what’s keeping people away in the post-9/11 environment: it is the perception around the world that travelers aren’t welcome,” Freeman told AFP.

“Travelers around the world feel the US entry experience is among the world’s worst,” Freeman said, calling on the US government to work with the private sector to make visa acquisition more efficient, the entry process traveler-friendly, and to improve communication. [...]

Last year, only 56 percent of Britons had a positive opinion of the United States compared with 83 percent in 2000, the Pew Global Attitudes report for 2006 shows.

Thirty-nine percent of French people saw the United States in a positive light last year, compared with 62 percent in 2000.

In Turkey 12 percent had good things to say about the United States last year — 40 percentage points down on 2000.

“The United States has to do what every other nation in the world does, and that is to promote itself to visitors,” Freeman said.

And this is happening despite a weak dollar.

I can’t really argue with what Freeman is saying. The visa problems have been ongoing, as have the dumb hassles at airports. There has to be a better way to expedite security in terminals than harassing people with fingernail clippers and hair-gel bottles.

And at the risk of getting political, the only way this will turn around in the near term is when a new person takes charge at the White House in 2009. America’s standing in the world has suffered on the current guy’s watch for myriad reasons, and it probably won’t get markedly better until he leaves. That’s the sad truth.

In the meantime, Route 66 should continue to do what it does best — be friendly and interesting to foreign visitors. That way, they’ll come back, and their friends will come here and hit the Mother Road, too.

UPDATE 11/3/07: Atlantic senior editor Andrew Sullivan comments about the problem, which sparks interesting comments here and here from foreign visitors.

UPDATE3: Bruce Schneier, who writes about security issues, also weighs in with many interesting thoughts, including this advice:

We need to do two things. The first is to stop urging people to report their fears. People have always come forward to tell the police when they see something genuinely suspicious, and should continue to do so. But encouraging people to raise an alarm every time they’re spooked only squanders our security resources and makes no one safer. [...]

Equally important, politicians need to stop praising and promoting the officers who get it wrong. And everyone needs to stop castigating, and prosecuting, the victims just because they embarrassed the police by their innocence.

UPDATE4: Sullivan has more examples of rude and inexplicable behavior by airport security here and here.

The historic Will Rogers Hotel on Lynn Riggs Boulevard (aka Route 66) in Claremore, Okla., is celebrating its 10th year Friday since reopening as a home for businesses and long-term residents, reports the Claremore Progress.

The hotel opened in 1930 and was there to take advantage of the area’s natural mineral water springs, which was considered to be a health booster. The hotel was decorated to resemble Will Rogers’ home in Santa Monica, Calif.

The hotel closed in 1991. The Rogers County Historical Society bought it for $1. A partnership with two other groups began rehabbing it.

Rehabilitation of the Will Rogers Hotel began in February 1997 at a cost of more than $2.5 million. The grand re-opening was on Nov. 15, 1997.

“The renovation itself was massive,” Sallee said. “We (saved) as much of the original hotel as we could — the exterior, the lobbies, the hallways — but we made renovations to upgrade and update the rest of the hotel.

“It’s funny, when I first got involved with the renovation, it was because of the building itself and its historic significance,” she said, “but now, it’s the residents that are most important to me — they’re my family — I just love them.”

Today, the hotel stays full with 38 tenants living on site.