The USA needs to decide whether it wants more tourists or not.

As a German who has been to the USA many, many times, I am starting to lose my patience with the USA.<br><br>First of all: I LOVE the United States of America. I love the vast landscapes, I love the cities (except New York City), I love the friendly people, I love the food. I've been to many states, but there are still so many places that I would like to visit once. My bucket list is long.<br><br>But the last few times that I have traveled to the USA have been a true hassle:<br><br>1.) The ESTA: It's absolutely ridiculous to charge 14 Dollars for an online form. I'm from a country that does not require a visa to enter the USA, but still, I have to pay 14 freaking Dollars just to fill out a form ON LINE. If you're from a country that requires a visa, you have to pay a whopping 160 Dollars for a visa that is only good for two years. Two years?! If I pay 160 Dollars for a visa, that visa should be good for 10 years at least.<br><br>2.) Long lines at airports: Yes, I know it's like that in every country, but at US airports, it's absolutely crazy. Last time I landed in Atlanta, it took me over an hour to get through passport control. And then I still had to wait for my suitcase. My flight from Germany to Atlanta took 9 hours and 25 minutes. I could get off the plane, go through passport control, pick up my suitcase and get out of the airport after a mere 2 hours and 15 minutes later. From there, I still had to get to my connecting flight which was in 40 minutes. I was really close to missing my connecting flight because of the long lines.<br><br>3.) Flight prices: I get that fuel costs money, but the prices for flights to the USA have risen ridiculously. A round trip from Germany to Atlanta for example costs 2500 Euros. It doesn't matter which airline you take or which airport you fly to. It's always the same price. Yes, I could fly into a different airport and then take a connecting flight to Atlanta, which would save me 200-300 Euros, but it would also mean that I have to spend an entire day traveling. I would rather pay the extra money and fly non-stop.<br><br>4.) Tips: Make up your minds. Do you want tips or not? Yes, I know that servers only make 2.50 Dollars an hour or something like that, but that's no excuse to complain about a 15% tip. And no, I'm not a cheap tipper. When I'm in the USA, I always round up the bill or give 15-20% tips because I know that you have to do that in the USA. But that also means that the USA is the only country where I have to pay more for a meal than what the bill says. Everywhere else in the world (and that includes some pretty expensive countries like Switzerland or Denmark) you pay what the bill says. You can round up the bill or give 5-10% tips if the service is good. But in the USA, you HAVE to tip.<br><br>I'm starting to lose my patience with the USA. If they want more tourists, they need to make travel to the USA more tourist-friendly. Charge less for visas, hire more people for passport control at airports, make flights cheaper, introduce a fair wage system that doesn't require tips.<br><br>I've been thinking about other travel destinations for a while now, and to be honest, I like traveling to other countries much better. No Tips, fair visa regulations, shorter lines at passport control, better flight prices...<br><br>Tourism is a big branch, and the USA is missing out on a lot of money.