The U.S. is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in prospective revenues and millions more in new jobs because of its strict visa policy that drives away millions of travelers. The burdensome visa program is hurting the U.S. travel industry, a study show.

A report by the U.S. Travel Association entitled "Ready for Takeoff" said that Washington "imposes unnecessary barriers on international visitors that inhibit economic growth." The report also outlines proposals to encourage tourists to visit the U.S.

"Specifically, a burdensome US visa system drives millions of potential travelers to other countries at an enormous cost to our economy," the report says.

The group describes as export dollar every dollar spent by foreign visitors while in the U.S. This classification makes travel "an easy export industry to expand and a key to closing our trade deficit."

It added that the travel industry could create an additional 1.3 million jobs by 2020 and double export earnings within five years. But the study strongly encourages the government to relax current strict visa rules.

It cited the long and tedious process of getting visas experienced by Brazilians and Chinese tourists. Current system takes up to six months for tourists from these countries to get a U.S. visa.

Roger Dow, president of U.S. Travel Association said, "Brazil and China are some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Shouldn't we be getting these people to come to the United States?"

The system is not discouraging only tourists but businessmen as well who often decide not to attend trade shows and exhibits in the U.S.

"When you look at what's happened since 9/11, we've lost 20 percent of the international tourism market and something like 165,000 jobs for each percentage point we lose. Those jobs are jobs that would stay in America. You can't outsource tourism," Senator Amy Klobuchar said.

"If someone wants to come here from Shanghai, it takes something like 93 days to get a visa. If they want to go to Britain it takes 10 days. That's a big difference," Klobuchar said.