US international visitation down slightly

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Department of Commerce today announced that 4.9 million international visitors traveled to the United States in February 2016, down slightly (-0.3%) from February 2015.

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Department of Commerce today announced that 4.9 million international visitors traveled to the United States in February 2016, down slightly (-0.3%) from February 2015. February broke the streak of five straight monthly increases in total US visits with this decline.

In February 2016, the top inbound markets continued to be Canada and Mexico. Non-resident visits from Canada declined 13 percent while visits from Mexico increased three percent. Japan (+3%), the United Kingdom (+12%), and the Peopleโ€™s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong) (+4%) rounded out the top five. Seven of the top inbound overseas regional markets(5) posted increases in non-resident visits in February 2016, with South America posting the only decline, dropping three percent.


For the first two months of 2016, international visits (10.4 million) were flat (+0.1%) when compared to the same period in 2015.

HIGHLIGHTS

Top 10 Countries

โ€ข In February 2016, seven of the top 10 countries posted increases in non-resident visits.

โ€ข During the first two months of 2016, eight of the top 10 countries (sort based on February 2016) posted increases in non-resident visits to the United States.

Top 10 Countries (Sort based on February 2016)

Country of Residence % Change February
2016 vs. 2015 % Change YTD February
2016 vs. 2015

Canada -13 -13
Mexico 3 3
Japan 3 3
United Kingdom 12 12
Peopleโ€™s Republic of China
(excluding Hong Kong)
4
20
South Korea 27 19
Brazil -26 -23
Germany 2 3
France -1 2
Australia 5 8

Non-Resident Visits from Overseas Countries

โ€ข In February 2016, non-resident visits from overseas countries (2.4 million) were up six percent over February 2015, accounting for 49 percent of total international visits to the United States.

o During the first two months of 2016, non-resident visits from overseas countries (5.1 million) were up seven percent compared to the same period of 2015, accounting for 49 percent of total international visits.

Top Ports: Year to Date February 2016

โ€ข Visitation through the top 15 ports of entry accounted for 86 percent of all overseas visits, about one percent lower than last year.

โ€ข The top three ports (Miami, New York JFK and Los Angeles) accounted for 41 percent of all overseas arrivals, one half of one percentage point lower than last year.

โ€ข Thirteen of the top 15 ports posted increases in arrivals.

โ€ข Seven of these ports posted double-digit increases.

Pleasure Travel vs. Business Travel: Year to Date February 2016

โ€ข Of the top 20 overseas countries with visits to the United States, more than 90 percent of the visits recorded from Argentina (94%), Chile (91%), and Ecuador (91%) represented pleasure travel to the United States. On the contrary, 30 percent or more of the visits recorded from Germany (36%) and the Netherlands (37%) represented business travel to the United States.



โ€ข Of all overseas non-resident visits to the United States, 74.3 percent represented pleasure travel and 17.7 percent represented business travel.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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