Evening star., 1947-02-16
raveIer,s Notebook
By Jacques FutreIIe, Jr.

Pleasure tourist travel to. postwar
Europe became a reality last week,
five days after public announcement
of the easing of passport restric-
tions. Leaving New York yesterday
morning, a Trans-World Airline
plane took off with ski enthusiasts
for the famous slopes of SWitzer-
land, via Paris. 1t carried the post
war vanguard of American tourists
to Europe, whose numbers during
the next 10 months are estimated
between $4,000 and 10000.
Mrs. Ruth Shipley, chief of the
passport division of the State De-
partment, disclosed the lifting of the
pleasure travel ban in New York on
Monday, at a luncheon sponsored by
the International Travel Division of
the American Automobile Associa-
ton. Before the week was out,
travel agencies were inviting Amer
leans to visit the British Isles,
France, Switzerland, Sweden, Den
mark, Belgium, Holland and Luxem-
bourg.
X X X Il
theoretically, American pleasure
travellers can begin going abroad at
the rate of 5000 to 1000 a month !;
practically, however, they have to
squeeze through the same bottleneck
that has contributed all along to
the delay in easing passport restric-
tions. That bottleneck is trans-At-
lantic transportation.
Under the new policy, issuance of
pleasure tourist passports depends
not only on proper arrangements for
food and lodgings in Europe, but
guaranteed passage home. The va
cationer going from the United
States still must CONF pete with more
important travel to Europe, which
has not yet shown marked drop
from late 1916. But, pressing his
case, he can manage to obtain out
bound reservations. He may have
to sacrifice some ideas of luxury, ac-
cording to the ship he takes, but he
can break through the exit bottle
neck without too much difficulty.
Wangling accommodations for the
return trip is more difficult, largely
because the west-bound passenger
backlog is heavier. Yet, before he
can leave the country, the traveller
who has no reason beyond pleasure
for his voyage must have return
reservations in hand. If he can't get
them, he can't go.
In announcing the new passport
policy, Mrs. Shipley said:
"a study has just been completed
with the assistance of the trans
Atlantic carriers, both air and sur
face; the well-knoWn travel agencies
and various Government offices in
terested in seeing speedy return tc
prewar pleasure travel. y AS a
result of the study, it has been de-
cided to advise clerks of courts and
passport agents that they may now
accept passport applications for
pleasure travel to continental Eu-
rope, including the British Isles and
Ireland, provided each applicant is
able to file with his passport appli-
cation a statement from a reliable
transportation or travel agency
showing that he has fixed return
transportation which cannot be
taken from him by any existing
system of priority for westbound
travel and that he has reserved
hotel or other accommodations to
take care of mis- food and lodging
while abroad.
ut is absolutely necessary that
such a statement be filed before the
application for passport may be for
warded to Washington for issue of
the passport. The imposition of this
requirement is considered by the
heads of foreign tourist agencies
the appropriate American officials
abroad and experienced transporta-
tion and travel people in this coun-
try to be essential before pleasure
travel is permitted. The number OF
persons who will be able to take ad-
vantage of this new procedure and
the areas to which they may travel
will increase automatically as addi-
tional westbound transportation IA
cilities become available and the