NEW YORK - Mara Haensel started her vacation braced for disaster.

She arrived at the airport near her home in Barcelona three hours early, in case some security official decided to detain her for questioning.

She carefully took note of the New York City address where she'd be staying.

If she didn't have it on hand, a friend told her, border officials would put her right back on a plane and send her home.

“Since 9/11, everyone is afraid” they could run into problems when they travel to the U.S., Haensel said after picking up her luggage at John F. Kennedy International Airport. “But actually it was fine in the end.”

Tourism officials in New York City and businesses nationwide that serve travelers are taking steps to combat what they say is a sense among prospective overseas visitors that the U.S. is an unwelcoming destination.

They're drawing on a new marketing campaign and a national lobbying effort to try to win over foreigners who may have been picking other vacation spots.

Travel industry advocates say the U.S. should be working harder to cultivate and maintain an industry that brought $107.9 billion into the country in 2006 - essentially making services to travelers one of the nation's major exports.

Last year's U.S. travel income was the highest ever, according to the Commerce Department.

But industry group Discover America Partnership warns that the number of travelers around the world is rising, while the number of visitors from countries other than Canada and Mexico fell 17 percent between 2000 and 2006.

They argue the drop is partly due to perceived difficulties faced by travelers to the U.S. since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

In part in response to those concerns, New York City launched its own marketing effort on Wednesday.

The city is one of only a few U.S. urban centers that has not seen a drop in the number of overseas visitors between 2000 and 2006, and officials want to make sure the city holds onto that lead.

International visitors arriving at one Kennedy Airport terminal will be greeted with large welcome signs and red-jacketed workers offering information, maps and insider tips on the city.

Those who leave the airport in a taxi may also see a promotional video, and tourists around the city will see posters from the “Just Ask the Locals” campaign, featuring New York-based celebrities suggesting favorite itineraries.

With the signs and greeters surrounding visitors before and after they go through customs, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the campaign was meant to counteract any negative first impressions.

“Tourists complain that U.S. immigration officials are rude and disrespectful, and they don't think that's a good way to start a vacation,” Bloomberg said. “This is another one of those things that is diminishing our competitive edge.”

Of the handful of visitors leaving a JFK exit at the same time as Haensel, none said they had had a bad run-in with officials. Bloomberg speculated the reported problems were the fault of “a small group of bad apples.”

“It's a perception issue,” said Kelly Klundt, spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. “It's very easy for the negative stories to get No. 1 blown out of proportion and No. 2 to spread far and wide.”

The airport effort by NYC & Company - the city's tourism office - echoes changes promised in federal legislation signed this month.

The “model ports” measure, which had been pushed heavily by Discover America Partnership, aims to offer assistance to foreign visitors on arrival and reduce their wait times.

The changes are to be instituted at the 20 U.S. airports that receive the most international arrivals.

The industry group is also lobbying for proposed federal legislation establishing a national tourism office that would promote the U.S. as a destination.

Klundt says U.S. Customs and Border Protection is supportive of the measures to improve information for travelers and reduce their waits.

The agency has developed an informational video to be shown to travelers while they wait to see a customs agent, she said.

But, Klundt said, the agency's main mission is not traveler relations.

“We are a law enforcement agency first and foremost,” she said. “We want to be welcoming, but our role is to find the needle in the haystack and to find the one person who means to do us harm.”

Jonathan Tisch, chairman of NYC & Company and a founder of Discover America Partnership, said both efforts can be priorities.

“We understand that we need secure borders, but we also need open doors,” he said.