U.S. Hopes For Boost In Foreign Tourists

Visitors from abroad can expect a more user-friendly United States if tourism leaders who recently met in Washington can mobilize plans from the first-ever White House Conference on Travel and Tourism.

The conclave brought together close to 2,000 industry boosters, including President Clinton, to rally support for a public/private partnership committed to making America the world’s premier travel destination. It would also create a new marketing effort called Visit USA to help reverse a steady decline in the number of foreign visitors.

The plan calls for improving everything from highway signage to customs and passport procedures, providing better-trained hotel staffs and using technology to make vacation-planning easier.

Doctors to go: Billy Joel has used them. So have Kevin Costner, Liza Minnelli and the chairman of General Motors - as well as countless other ailing travelers. They’ve all called on HotelDocs, a network of doctors and dentists who will treat you in your hotel room.

Founded in 1988, the service has been expanding steadily and now reaches 50 U.S. cities. The more than 600 doctors in the network include numerous specialists and, though not all are available at all times, a doctor usually will arrive within 35 minutes, 24 hours a day.

There’s a $150 charge per visit and an additional fee for any medication required. HotelDocs is not a substitute for an emergency service, emphasizes founder/president Ian Becker, but staffers question callers about symptoms and summon an ambulance for anyone they judge needs immediate care.

HotelDocs mainly see problems such as earaches, stomach upsets, sunburn and flu. These may be relatively minor complaints, Becker notes, but they can wreck a vacation or business trip if left untreated. Call (800) HOTEL-DR.

Quick takes: Travel news from all over:

Budget travelers can now book rooms at Motel 6 via a toll-free central reservations number: (800) 4-MOTEL-6.

The Japan National Tourist Organization has come up with several dozen free attractions in expensive Tokyo and Kyoto, ranging from temples to beer factories. For a copy, call (212) 757-5640. Not on the list but also free is the new Osaka Sewerage Science Museum, where among other things, visitors can walk into a giant toilet to learn how the flushing mechanism works.

It may be “slow season” for tourists in London, but British officials say hotel bookings are up considerably after several lean years, and they’re encouraging visitors to reserve at least a month in advance if they want to get their choice of hotel.

Although London is certainly in no danger of running out of rooms, a surge in visitors can tighten the market in better hotels, particularly those closest to the tourist hot spots.