The U.S. can’t effectively compete for tourists if there isn’t energy at the federal level toward tackling issues like excessive visa wait times, upgrading outdated airports and staffing the TSA and FAA.
Your Face May Soon Be Your Ticket. Not Everyone Is Smiling.
13.10.2023 - 10:27 / nytimes.com / Warner Bros
You may not have to fumble with your cellphone in the boarding area very much longer. As the travel industry embraces facial recognition technology, phones are beginning to go the way of paper tickets at airports, cruise terminals and theme parks, making checking in more convenient, but raising privacy and security concerns, too.
“Before Covid it felt like a future thing,” said Hicham Jaddoud, a professor of hospitality and tourism at the University of Southern California, describing the way contactless transactions have become common since the pandemic. That includes facial recognition, which is “now making its way into daily operations” in the travel industry, Dr. Jaddoud said.
Facial recognition systems are already being expanded at some airports. At Miami International, for example, cameras at 12 gates serving international flights match passengers’ faces to the passport photographs they have on file with the airlines, letting passengers at those gates board without showing physical passports or boarding passes. The company installing the systems, SITA, has been contracted to do the same for a number of international gates in 10 other U.S. airports, including Boston Logan International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport. (Passengers can opt out and still present physical documents instead, SITA says.)
The technology is also speeding up the wait for some passengers at immigration. Members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry program can now bypass lines at the kiosks at seven U.S. airports, including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, by taking a selfie on arrival using its new phone app. The selfie is matched with the agency’s facial biometrics database.
Cruise ship operators are also betting that facial recognition will improve passengers’ experience. On Carnival Cruise ships, a camera photographs passengers each time they get on or off the ship to know who’s aboard in case of an emergency, and to make sure only authorized people are on the ship. Facial recognition also allows passengers to receive pictures of themselves taken by onboard photographers, rather than scanning hundreds of photos looking for the ones in which they appear. Holland America, which uses similar technology, says facial recognition has sped up its check-in process by as much as 40 percent. Both companies say they purge all biometric data after each voyage and that guests can opt out of the system.
Visitors to the theme parks on Yas Island, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, can use a facial recognition system for entry and to buy food and souvenirs at attractions like Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld. Guests
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