If the U.S. makes it easier for tourists to enter the country, more of them will come to spend their money – especially on electronic gadgets, Fox News maintains.
They make the case for iPad buyers from Brazil, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Despite the evidence that they’ll be soon making iPads and iPhones there, nightmarishly high tariffs still make the U.S. a better place to buy Apple products. (By the way, Cult of Mac will be in Sao Paulo Nov. 20, come say hi and talk about all things Apple in Brazil).
The math on all of this is (necessarily?) a little fuzzy. Surely it’s easier (and cheaper) all things told to just bite the bullet and buy it at home. Perhaps someone should create an iPad index – like The Economist’s Big Mac Index – to better compare prices around the world adjusted for taxes etc.
Still, gadget shopping abroad can still be a major highlight of the vacation – Apple’s iconic 5th Avenue Store in New York is now one of the most photographed monuments in the Big Apple.
Plus, a clean, well-lit Apple retail store can seem like a luxury experience depending on what you’re used to at home.
Apple products now make it around the world faster, but when I lived in Italy it often took months for products to arrive. And when they did, the skimpy selection (and miserable service) at tiny Apple resellers plus the perception that paying whatever the Euro price plus VAT made them more expensive meant I shopped for gadgets on trips home.
Can we boost the U.S. economy by promoting Apple tourism?
Via Fox News
