Latest news with #CharlottePohl
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Suzanne Harrington: 'North Korea currently looks more enticing than the USA as a destination'
Old friends of my partner invite us to stay at their beach house on Malibu – admittedly a very small beach house, but a beach house on Malibu nevertheless. The photos are breathtaking. Yet being of sound mind, we politely decline. Thanks, but no thanks. They laugh, nodding, rolling their eyes. They get it. Another friend, a freelancer with a UK passport, is offered a fat fee to fly to Atlanta for a weekend's work – he's a photographer - but also declines. He could do with the money, but finds the prospect of entering the US, even without a fancy camera in his bag, so stressful that he decides to forfeit the cash and stay at home. He says he keeps thinking of those German teenage backpackers, Maria Lepere and Charlotte Pohl, who were strip-searched, handcuffed, body scanned, and locked in a cell overnight in Honolulu for the crime of not having booked advance accommodation, before being deported. Now Irish students are cancelling planned cultural exchange trips to the US too, rather than potentially allowing the current regime's border guards to scrutinise their social media feeds or access their phones. Imagine uniformed meatheads scrolling through your private messages, like perverts sniffing through your knicker drawer. No thanks. This is not the kind of culture fit for any form of exchange. Meanwhile, Harvard is running free online courses to educate their own citizens on the basics of their own democratic structures. Offering ordinary Americans a kind of Democracy for Dummies as they sleepwalk over the cliff into dictatorship. The current US administration's ongoing propensity for picking fights with Harvard, women's reproductive rights, Canada, people of colour, Taylor Swift, people dependent on US foreign aid, Chinese students, trans people, migrants, the EU, Bruce Springsteen, Vladimir Putin, free trade, Oprah, Beyonce, facts, free speech, science, medicine, climate safeguarding, and probably gravity itself – while endorsing genocide, white supremacy, illegal deportations, medical quackery and the pardoning of criminals – continues to give the rest of us whiplash. The kind of whiplash you get when someone you'd long regarded as perhaps a slightly racist neighbour turns out to be a raging psychopath; culturally speaking, the abrupt speed of this about-turn is causing our necks to snap. We have our list of travel no-go zones, places our consulates advise us to proceed towards with great caution, or to swerve completely. You wouldn't book a sunshine holiday in South Sudan, pursue sex tourism in Iran, shoplift in Saudi. We know about the tricky places. We proceed accordingly, or don't proceed at all. The US was never, ever on that list; we were schooled to regard it as a place of adventure and opportunity, a place where you could make it, maybe even hit the jackpot. Now, thanks to its rapid slide from jackpot to jackboot, visiting America has become about as enticing as a colposcopy. Why would you want to go there, to contribute even a single dollar to its continued existence? As a destination, North Korea currently looks more enticing, for the simple reason that North Korea is not pretending to be anything other than what it is – a mad dictatorship overseen by a mad dictator. No offence Malibu, but right now I'd rather be a tourist in Pyongyang. Read More
The Independent
02-05-2025
- The Independent
Ghost booking: The tactic travellers are using to ease US border control fears
Travellers are using a new tactic to ease anxiety at US border control – 'ghost booking' – after a series of arrests for alleged visa violations, including insufficient proof of accommodation. On 18 March, two German teenagers were denied entry to Hawaii and detained by border officers who called their trip 'suspicious'. Upon arriving in Honolulu, Charlotte Pohl and Maria Lepère were allegedly denied entry into the US despite holding the required Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). According to Beat of Hawaii, border officials flagged potential illegal work intentions and detained the teens after learning they had not fully booked their accommodation. Pohl said: 'They found it suspicious that we hadn't fully booked our accommodations for the entire five weeks in Hawaii.' As the Trump administration cracks down on immigration, what is ghost booking? And why are people using it for a more seamless stateside travel experience? What is 'ghost booking'? A "ghost booking" is when a traveller makes a reservation for a hotel room, flight, cruise or campsite with no intention of showing up. Rooms, seats, cabins or pitches are then either cancelled for a full refund or sit empty despite being booked. Why are travellers making ghost bookings? Many countries require proof of accommodation to enter as part of the visa application process or at their borders. In the US specifically, British travellers need to have a valid passport and either an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) or a visa to enter or transit through. The US immigration process does not, by law, require travellers to show proof of a hotel booking at the border. However, demonstrating you have accommodation arrangements is generally expected, and visitor visas may ask for proof of this as part of an application. It is wise to have a hotel confirmation on hand, at least for your first night, as well as onward travel plans and relevant finances to prevent questioning and possible deportation by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. Border control can be particularly suspicious of backpackers travelling with no forward itinerary or onward ticket. By making a refundable ghost booking for a flight or hotel, those travelling with an uncertain itinerary are more prepared to disclose their travel plans if pushed by immigration control. Do ghost bookings make border crossings easier? According to travel expert The Points Guy (Brian Kelly), travellers must have an itinerary planned at all times for an 'uneventful' entry or exit between borders – even if it means making refundable bookings that won't be used. In an Instagram video last week, he said: 'It is very easy to make refundable lodging reservations so I highly recommend that to anyone travelling to have that because whenever you enter a country they want to know that you have enough money so that you're not gonna be a drain on societal resources and you've got a ticket home that's within your tourist visa.' Brian advised jet setters to always have a PDF file or printed-out reservations of their flight leaving the country and accommodation during the stay. When else do people 'no show' a room reservation? At attractions such as theme parks, hotel guests often benefit from perks unaccessible to a day visitor. Ghost booking is common at Universal Orlando Premier in order to obtain the complimentary Universal Express Pass – this allows guests to skip lines for participating rides in Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure. In other cases, people have made unused reservations on rental platforms such as Airbnb as donations to local hosts in areas experiencing a humanitarian crisis. Are there any downsides? Yes. Many accommodation providers who offer fee-free cancellation are already extremely concerned about the high number of bookings that are cancelled at the last moment. There are accounts of travellers making multiple free-cancellation reservations for different properties on the same nights, deciding much later which to take up – and cancelling the remainder. Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, said: 'These guests want a convenient menu of accommodation to choose from, at no risk to themselves. I deplore the practice, because it harms the finances of the proprietor and prevents other, well-intentioned travellers from being able to book. 'This is a different form of 'ghost booking' to those made for crossing borders: at least the guest intends to stay in one of the properties. 'For a leading travel media figure to 'highly recommend' the practice of making spoof bookings just for an easier ride through the US border is, to say the least, questionable.'
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump slump hits Las Vegas as tourist numbers drop
Visitors to Las Vegas have dropped by almost eight per cent, according to a new report by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). The Nevada city welcomed 3.39 million visitors in March, compared with 3.68 million in February, a fall of 7.8 per cent. Midweek hotel occupancy was also down 2.4 per cent, with hotel rooms 82.9 per cent full in March, compared with 85.3 per cent in March 2024, despite more than half a million people attending conferences in the city. On weekends, hotel occupancy was down by one per cent. Casinos in Sin City also reported an almost five per cent drop over the past year, a figure that stands at 1.1 per cent statewide. The report, which was shared with local news media 8 News Now, revealed that despite the slump, hotel rates on the Las Vegas Strip have risen by 3.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2024. Data reported by the Clark County Department of Aviation also found a 3. 9 per cent drop in the number of passengers arriving and departing from Harry Reid International Airport. Elsewhere, vehicle counts at the Nevada-California border on I-15 show a fall of 3.1 per cent in traffic, according to the LVCVA. The Independent has contacted LVCVA for comment. The figures form part of the 'Trump slump', which has seen many international travellers eschewing the US due to fears of deportation following several high profile cases, including German backpackers Charlotte Pohl and Maria Lepère, Rebecca Burke from Wales and Lucas Sielaff from Germany Discomfort with President Trump's public proclamations and policies, including the introduction of tariffs, also appears to have impacted visitor numbers. Official data from the US International Trade Administration shows a 17 per cent year-on-year decline in the number of western Europeans visiting the US in March 2025. For travellers from Germany and Ireland, this slump is over a quarter.
The Independent
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Trump slump hits Las Vegas as tourist numbers drop
Visitors to Las Vegas have dropped by almost eight per cent, according to a new report by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). The Nevada city welcomed 3.39 million visitors in March, compared with 3.68 million in February, a fall of 7.8 per cent. Midweek hotel occupancy was also down 2.4 per cent, with hotel rooms 82.9 per cent full in March, compared with 85.3 per cent in March 2024, despite more than half a million people attending conferences in the city. On weekends, hotel occupancy was down by one per cent. Casinos in Sin City also reported an almost five per cent drop over the past year, a figure that stands at 1.1 per cent statewide. The report, which was shared with local news media 8 News Now, revealed that despite the slump, hotel rates on the Las Vegas Strip have risen by 3.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2024. Data reported by the Clark County Department of Aviation also found a 3. 9 per cent drop in the number of passengers arriving and departing from Harry Reid International Airport. Elsewhere, vehicle counts at the Nevada-California border on I-15 show a fall of 3.1 per cent in traffic, according to the LVCVA. The Independent has contacted LVCVA for comment. The figures form part of the 'Trump slump', which has seen many international travellers eschewing the US due to fears of deportation following several high profile cases, including German backpackers Charlotte Pohl and Maria Lepère, Rebecca Burke from Wales and Lucas Sielaff from Germany Discomfort with President Trump's public proclamations and policies, including the introduction of tariffs, also appears to have impacted visitor numbers. 17 per cent year-on-year decline in the number of western Europeans visiting the US in March 2025. For travellers from Germany and Ireland, this slump is over a quarter.
News.com.au
28-04-2025
- News.com.au
Aussies flying to US warned after tourists strip searched, thrown in federal prison
Australians travelling to the US are being warned to not assume they are safe from 'enhanced vetting' at the border after the experience of two young German tourists being strip searched and thrown in prison made global headlines. Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii after backpacking in Thailand and New Zealand when they were denied entry and were detained until deportation. The teens told a German publication that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials were 'suspicious' they hadn't booked hotels for their entire stay and claimed interrogation transcripts contained words they didn't say. CBP said the women intended to work in the US which is prohibited on a visitor visa and when using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) under the Visa Waiver Program. Melissa Vincenty, a US immigration lawyer and Australian migration agent who is managing director of Worldwide Migration Partners, told that either way, being taken to federal prison with no criminal record, no drugs on them or anything that is a danger to society is an extreme measure — but it's the reality of being denied entry to the US in Hawaii. Ms Vincenty, a dual-citizen who was a deportation defence lawyer in Honolulu before moving to Australia, explained the state did not have an immigration facility so people were taken to the Federal Detention Center Honolulu, where there was no separate wing for immigration. It meant tourists who were denied entry to the US could be held alongside those awaiting trial — or who have been convicted and were waiting to be transferred to a mainland prison for serious federal crimes, such as kidnapping, bank robbery or drug crimes. 'It's like in the movies; you go there and there's bars, you get strip searched, all your stuff is taken away from you, you're not allowed to call anybody, nobody knows where you are,' Ms Vincenty said. She said it would have been a 'horrific' experience for the young German tourists. Ms Vincenty said for Australians who were denied entry to the US in other locations like Los Angeles, San Francisco or Dallas, being held in detention facilities until the next available flight home was a real risk as there weren't constant return flights to Australia — meaning you might have to wait until the next day. If not taken to a detention facility, some travellers may stay sitting for hours in what is called a secondary inspection at the airport. A secondary inspection includes further vetting such as searching a travellers' electronic devices. 'That period can last from half an hour to 15 hours or more,' she said. Ms Vincenty warned it was crucial Australians travelling to the US had the correct paperwork for what they were there for, and should 'absolutely' wait for the right visa if they planned to work. 'Now more than ever, understand what the parameters are of what you can and can't do, and don't try to 'get around it',' she said. 'Over the years I've had a lot of people get around it and think 'I'm invincible, I can do whatever I want'. Now is not the time to play that game. Don't do it.' Dr Lee Morgenbesser, an associate professor in comparative politics at Griffith University, said in his opinion, Australians planning to go to the US now 'need to ask themselves whether their travel is absolutely essential'. He personally cancelled a business trip for research purposes in July. 'I am somewhat outspoken of the Trump administration,' he said of his reasoning. 'It is important what you say about the Trump administration online. It does have a bearing, which is certainly something that's different to the past.' Fewer Australians are already travelling to the US March saw the sharpest drop in Australians travelling to the US since during the height of the Covid pandemic, according to US International Trade Administration statistics. Australian visitor numbers fell 7 per cent in March this year, compared to March 2024 — the biggest drop since March 2021. Foreign traveller arrivals in the US are expected to sharply decline this year, according to Tourism Economics. The travel data company revised its outlook after Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs announcement on April 2 — forecasting a 9.4 per cent decline in international visitor arrivals. Their spending is expected to decline 5 per cent, representing a loss of $9 billion in spending. It is a significantly different 2025 forecast than that released in December, which anticipated a 8.8 per cent growth in international visitation and 16 per cent increase in visitor spending. Tourism Economics' report says decisions from the Trump Administration are creating a 'negative sentiment shift toward the US among travellers' — with Mr Trump's stance on border security and immigration one of the factors cited as discouraging visits. James Robertson, head of global security for the firm International SOS, told the company's overall security case folio for the US (people wanting advice before travelling or while already over there) had tripled from January to April, compared to the same period last year. He said the Los Angeles wildfires were responsible for some of that spike, but so was Mr Trump's border crackdown. Ms Vincenty said Worldwide Migration Partners had seen 'a huge drop' in clients wanting to go to the US. 'We handle immigration in both directions. We've seen a big drop in inquiries about visas to go the US and a huge uptick in people wanting to come back to Australia and bring their families,' she said. 'That's only happened in the last 60 days. We get hundreds of calls in a month so we can kind of see the trend and that's absolutely what the trend is.' How to prepare for travel to the US Mr Robertson said International SOS was encouraging people to plan ahead and think through how the rules will affect them. 'It's obviously better to prepare for these sorts of things and consider what information might be on your devices before you go, then end up missing your connecting flight for example because you've shared memes or messages critical of the government,' Mr Robertson said. Dr Morgenbesser said it was important Australians do not assume they will be safe from enhanced vetting because their travel is innocuous. 'I make the assumption that I might be a bit more at risk because the work I do and what I say online but we're seeing instances of German tourists, French scientists, Australian UFC trainers — clearly this enhanced vetting is hitting a lot of people regardless of their profession.' He advises rehearsing answers for CBP officers about why you are in the US, how long you'll be there for, where you are staying and when you are leaving, so you can answer confidently. Dr Morgenbesser said one idea to prepare for the worst case scenario of being detained is setting up an email with details about where you are that will automatically send if not manually cancelled. Ms Vincenty warns travellers from Australia to be alert when they arrive into the US and not be affected by sleeping pills or alcohol. She advises travellers to print out their itinerary that shows their accommodation bookings, return flights and even evidence of funds in their bank account. This is so you do not have to open up your phone in front of CBP officers unnecessarily. If you are instructed to show your phone and choose to do so to avoid being denied entry, Ms Vincenty encourages people to enter their passcodes themselves instead of providing that information to the officer. She also recommended removing biometric access to your phone, such as a fingerprint or facial recognition to unlock.
