WASHINGTON – Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Ken Hyatt today announced that international visitors to the United States spent $15.4 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States in March 2014. When compared to U.S. resident spending abroad in March, the United States set a new record surplus of $5.1 billion for the month.
“Travel and tourism is a key sector of the U.S. economy and an important contributor to U.S. exports,” Hyatt said. “As we celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week, this data proves once again that tourists around the world continue to select the United States as their travel destination. We continue to make good progress toward achieving President Obama’s goal of attracting 100 million visitors annually through the National Travel and Tourism Strategy.”
Travel Receipts: Purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the United States totaled $11.9 billion during March, an increase of nearly 6 percent when compared to last year. These goods and services include food, lodging, recreation, gifts, entertainment, local transportation in the United States, and other items incidental to foreign travel.
Passenger Fare Receipts: Fares received by U.S. carriers (and U.S. vessel operators) from international visitors totaled $3.5 billion for the month, an increase of nearly 4 percent when compared to March 2013.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
In 2012, President Obama launched the National Travel and Tourism Strategy, which set a goal of drawing 100 million international visitors by 2021. The strategy is expected to generate $250 billion in visitor spending annually.
