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 Disney Donates ‘Welcome: Portraits of America’ Video to CBP Model Airport Project
(10/23/2007) | | 
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Photo Credit: Greg Gorman |
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Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, in partnership with U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of State, recently premiered “Welcome: Portraits of America,” a multi-media initiative to welcome international visitors to the United States. The donation from Disney included a seven-minute film and hundreds of still images, featuring American people from all regions and walks of life.
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Welcome: Portraits of America Video ) | 
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Photo Credit: Greg Gorman |
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Disney commissioned the project as part of the Rice-Chertoff Initiative that seeks to secure America’s borders while welcoming legitimate visitors to the United States.
( U.S. Government Partners with Disney to Welcome International Visitors )
Customs and Border Protection is working with the State Department, federal partners and major airports to create standards that ensure passengers entering the United States experience a process that is welcoming, understandable, respectful, time-efficient and less stressful. | | 
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Photo Credit: Greg Gorman |
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These are the guiding principles behind U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s efforts to create model airports, a prototype environment that accommodates increased security screening and a more visitor-friendly process.The State Department and Department of Homeland Security vision and the CBP model airport project depend on cooperative partnerships that utilize new information technologies, improved travel documents and more sophisticated screening techniques to streamline the experience for international travelers. | 
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Photo Credit: Greg Gorman |
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Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has pledged to “work together with our partners in government and with our partners in the private sector and with our partners overseas to use all of our 21st century ingenuity to meet the critical challenge — to make this a country that is safe and secure for those who live and visit, but also one that continues to welcome the next generation of visitors, much as prior generations have been welcomed before.”The Model Port Initiative is being piloted at:
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport, serving the Houston area, which processed more than 6 million arriving and departing international passengers in 2005 and is the nation’s 7th largest international gateway. Almost 46 percent of all international passengers arriving in Houston board connecting flights to another location.
- Washington Dulles International Airport, serving the National Capital Region, which processed 4.9 million arriving and departing international passengers in 2005. Almost 50 percent of all international passengers arriving at Dulles transfer to other domestic flights.
The team has identified three keys to improving the traveler’s experience:
- Provide the right information to help travelers, at the right time and in a hospitable manner;
- Streamline the process; and
- Ensure that the staffing and facilities at the ports of entry are conducive to meeting travelers’ expectations of America.
Disney’s gracious donation of the multimedia “Portraits of America” is a leap forward in depicting images of America that will welcome arriving visitors and resonate deeply with citizens returning to their nation while creating a warm welcome to visitors. It is a special gift to these travelers that Disney’s images will be featured in International Arrivals areas, U.S. embassies, and other opportunities to welcome visitors to our nation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection continues to encourage legitimate travel, and to serve as a welcoming face to those who visit.
(
Welcome: Portraits of America Video )
( The Making of the Portraits of America Video )
( Welcome: Portraits of America Photography )
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Photo Credit: Greg Gorman |
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