Why do some countries want to track the location of tourists after arrival?

5/23/2016 8:54:06 PM

Many countries try to keep track of their citizens and other permanent residents for purposes of taxes, voter rolls, military draft (where applicable), and similar purposes. For example, people can own several houses, but usually they can only vote in one place, and they must file their taxes once. Such a registration would be mandatory within a few days or weeks of moving into a house.

If hotels were not required to register their visitors, that would be an obvious loophole in the system. So it is closed.

1) There is no need to check the paperwork if the tourist is leaving and everything looks fine. If they catch a tourist who works illegally, the records may become an issue.

2) The US has a relatively weak system of tracking their own citizens. Driver’s licenses and social security numbers are used for purposes which would be a national ID card in many other countries. Any attempt to track foreigners in the US would affect US citizens as well — they’d have to show their ID to prove that they don’t have to show their ID.

5/23/2016 7:10:46 PM

There are few reasons for doing so :

  • for statistical reasons. At country level, it is important to manage the flows and understand how many people are coming in and where they are staying.
  • asking for the place where you stay is a way to ensure that you aren’t coming to stay in the street and that you have an appropriate solution for your accommodation.
  • in the USA, they are asking for the reason of your stay and where you’ll be staying. At least, this is what I saw in the ESTA. Isn’t it a kind of registration (maybe not as formal as what you have seen elsewhere).
  • when you leave, they scan your passport so they know that you leave. What would be the need for checking registration again since you are leaving? As you leave, I guess the country authority doesn’t care about where you stayed.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

Search Posts

Latest posts

Popular posts