It would only impair things if you think of extraterrestrial travel as travel on Earth. The main question you'd have to answer is how commonplace do the inhabitants of the setting see these restrictions as. (Example: 20 years ago, everyone would've balked at having to remove their shoes when traveling in and to the United States. Nowadays we gripe and complain about it, but do it anyway, and largely don't really think too much about it.)
I think the spacelines and/or tourism boards of the destinations would provide the very basics like clothing and a complimentary rebreather, perhaps as part of a travel package, but after that the tourist is on their own.
The IATA/ICAO IN SPACE! would be absolutely necessary for commerce, damn the expense and impracticality. I can see it being the most unifying governmental entity between/amongst fractious worlds, actually, moreso than any UN analogue.
I am interested as to what the locals on Planet B use instead of petroleum and rubber-derived products, while still having enough of a tourist economy that off-worlders are willing to follow such a rule. (More specifically, how did they get into space with a plastic/rubber allergy? Earth space programs would be very interested to know, as it basically can't be done here.)
For that particular planet, they never explored space ever and there's little interest from government officials and general public to do so. They even banned alien visitors for a while thanks to the aforementioned allergies. It was when diplomats arrived and promoted interplanetary relations that they were encouraged to open up to foreign visitors. Locals who want to travel out from the planet simply use a long distance teleporter (this is a science fantasy universe, after all), but very little people do so because thanks to the items they are allergic from being ubiquitous.
There are space ports for visitors, but space shuttles can not land in the planet. They have to get into space stations and go through standard immigration and custom inspections before getting teleported into the actual planet itself.
As for plastic/rubber allergy itself, when locals need to use them, they just use protective equipments (gloves, masks, etc) when using things made from them, which is mostly cotton or fiber, but since that some visitors are allergic to those materials, they simply impose restrictions to make things simple.
edited 16th Nov '14 3:28:30 PM by murazrai
Huh. How would this race record their music? And run water into their homes?
Home style music recording uses surround style microphones which is placed some distances away at various points in front of the performers, which has an added advantage to sound like live concert recording if the person handling them knows how to use them. Professional ones simply use sound capture portals cast from a steel plate connected to barrier reinforced wires, which allows very precise sound capture, even more than high end conventional recording equipment.
Water are transported via zinc pipes, which is dirt cheap thanks to abundance (think iron or aluminum in Earth), but the pipes do get replaced regularly and plans to change them into barrier reinforced PVC pipes are on experimental stage.
edited 17th Nov '14 3:16:32 AM by murazrai
Huh. You have thought about it, then.
And the interest in this planet comes from its vast petroleum reserves, which the locals consider about as bad as we think of nuclear waste?
Yes, but they don't think of it like how Earth people think of nuclear waste because wastes from petroleum derived products can be recycled or exported to foreign planets with facilities to do so.
On a second note, some customs would add discouraged items on top of banned items. The main reason behind this is that there are certain items, while having no ground for banning, would cause nuisance for either the traveler or the locals.
As an example, thick clothing are discouraged by customs department of a planet where the temperature never drops below 30 degrees during clear days for the past 30 years, even at night. Customs has repeatedly mentioned that such clothing will not be siezed, but they offer teleportation services for travelers who want to do so.
Also, consider items that aren't so much banned or disliked as heavily taxed. Luxury goods are often good examples, as are items that would be a lot more expensive in a planet's local economy than imported from elsewhere.
In fact, most of your customs authority's work would probably involve finding and slapping the correct fees on those, rather than anything truly blacklisted.
Reality is for those who lack imagination.
Speaking of tax, aside from regulations and the like, figuring out tax rates and the like is one of the major duties of embassies, tourism boards and customs all over the universe. There is a saying that for anything that exist in the universe, there will be at least one planet that taxes its existence when brought in or out of it. There are even specialized departments to aid potential tourists.
A planet even tax water by requiring all travelers to donate some water supply before allowed to enter. Those who don't have to pay an entrance fee, which they would received a bottle of water and still have to donate some water from it. To be fair, the water donation is done by pouring some water into specific holes of a giant statue incorporated into the arrival gate, which is required to ensure their safety while in the planet as in being blessed by local travel deity. The rule was enacted when incidents of sudden and unexplained deaths by tourists who did not perform the ritual has alerted the authorities.
edited 19th Nov '14 5:53:18 AM by murazrai
I read a few regulations regarding customs over several nations and found out that they can be quite unusual than what one has expected, but at least somewhat justifiable. Imagine if this extends to extraterrestrial travel. There would be some massive red tape on top of heavy scrutiny.
In my fictional world, luggage privacy is a concept followed by very few planets thanks to allergies that aliens could get, which then requires full declaration on all items brought into point of entry including clothing articles currently worn on passengers. The most stringent ones actually has a children's story book sized manual which lists prohibited and restricted items, which includes clothings which contain polyester, natural rubber and even polyethylene plastic bags due to skin contact allergies by locals.
Would these restrictions impair extraterrestrial travel? As a side note, is a universal organization related to travel like IATA, ICAO and the like a feasibility regarding maintenance and personnel?