CONCORD – Concerned that travel between the U.S. and Canada could be damaged by new and proposed federal passport rules, New Hampshire tourism officials met with state, federal and Canadian officials yesterday to discuss what they can do about them.

They were encouraged to comment on a proposed federal initiative by the end of the month that would exempt children and school groups from being required to have passports.

Janice Crawford, executive director of the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the strong Canadian dollar and comparable gas prices have boosted travel from Canada recently. She noted that five years ago, less than 10 percent of the visitors to her region were from Canada, while this summer she guessed it could be as high as 30 percent.

"We don't want to lose that business" because of a plan to require all visitors to have passports, including Canadian children, by 2009 or earlier.

J. Michael Donovan, president of Visit Canada Ltd., a Portsmouth company specializing in student travel to Canada, urged tourism officials to send comments on proposed rule-making for the Western Hemisphere Trade Initiative passport changes by Aug. 27.

Donovan said each passport costs $125, which he said would make international school travel prohibitive and could preclude some families from traveling.

He urged exemptions within the WHTI for children below age 16.

"We have a train wreck on our hands, at least potentially," Donovan told a gathering of tourism officials, state leaders and representatives for U.S. Sen. John Sununu, and U.S. Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes, yesterday. The meeting was convened by George Bald, commissioner of the state Department of Resources and Economic Development.

Consul General for Canada Neil LeBlanc attended the meeting and said there could be serious consequences for trade in the coming years.

It's not just tourism. "It also includes commerce, trade trucking and the flow of commerce across the border," he said. "We have over $5 billion involved. It is big business. We are your leading trade partner.

"We recognized that security is a major issue and one that has to be addressed," he said. "Is there a potential of economic loss? We think there is."

Canadians made 328,000 visits to New Hampshire last year, spending more than $55 million and helping to contribute to more than 32,000 jobs, according to the Consulate General of Canada.

The Canadian dollar has gone from being worth 63 cents a decade ago to now closer to 92 cents while the cost of gas in Canada has come closer to U.S. prices.

Before Sept. 11, 2001, all a person needed to cross the border between Canada and the United States -- either by air, land or sea -- was a driver's license or a birth certificate.

Following the terrorist attacks, the U.S. State Department and Congress began working on regulating border crossings more carefully and recently required that U.S. citizens traveling to Canada by air would need a U.S. passport and that by the summer of 2008 those traveling across the land and sea would need a passport.

The WHTI includes a mandate that a plan be developed to require U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to present a passport or another verifiable and secure document that can ensure a person's identity upon seeking entrance into the U.S. The plan must be fully implemented by January 2008.

Facing a flood of requests for passports, the State Department and Homeland Security announced June 8 that U.S. citizens traveling to Canada who have applied for and not received passports can re-enter the U.S. by air provided they can show documentation. And travel by land and sea would still allow for driver's license and birth certificates through the summer of 2008.

But a lack specific rules, as well as dates when rules would be imposed and general concerns about border crossings have taken a potential boom for future tourism and placed it in a precarious state, said Bald.

"We need to focus on this," he said, because Canada is our largest trade partner and an integral part of the state's economy.

"We cannot do anything that stops visitors from coming to our country," he said.

Martin K. Bayr, legislative aide to Sen. Sununu, said the senator is hoping to propose language that would require a number of benchmarks be satisfied to ensure infrastructure at borders is in place about six months before implementation. Currently, the technology has not been developed, he said. And he said the senator supports an exemption for children and school groups.

Bayr said that while securing U.S. borders is a top priority, it needs to be done without damaging tourism and the economy.

Jayne O'Connor, executive director of White Mountain Attractions, asked what is being done to inform citizens of the changes. She said she has seen a huge increase in Canadian families visiting in the past two years but that may change if federal requirements to enter the nation require them all to have passports.

LeBlanc said an enhanced driver's licenses is being developed in British Columbia and the state of Washington.

►Click here for more information on WHTI proposals
►Click here for more information on documentation

Ron Brown of the New Hampshire Campground Association said the traditional ease with which people have passed through the borders is on the line and it could affect travel in both directions.

"We live in Twin Mountain and think nothing of jumping in the car and going to Montreal," he said. That could change.

For more information on documentation and WHTI proposals, visit www.state.gov and www.besttcoalition.com.