International visitor spending surges by USD1.5 billion in March

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Department of Commerce today announced that international visitors spent an estimated US$13.7 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States dur

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Department of Commerce today announced that international visitors spent an estimated US$13.7 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States during the month of March – an increase of more than US$1.5 billion, or 13 percent, from March 2011. Year-to-date, US travel and tourism exports have grown nearly 13 percent in 2012, and the industry has generated a US$10.6 billion trade surplus during the first quarter of 2012.

These numbers come on the heels of National Travel and Tourism Week and the Administrationโ€™s announcement of the National Travel and Tourism Strategy, a blueprint for the Federal government to welcome 100 million international visitors by the end of 2021, which was unveiled last week by Commerce Secretary Bryson and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

โ€œToday’s data shows that America remains a top destination for international visitors,โ€ said Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sรกnchez, โ€œThe travel and tourism industry – our number one services export – has enjoyed 27 consecutive months of uninterrupted growth. Commerce will continue working to support this critical industry, which creates millions of American jobs. Those efforts include carrying out initiatives recently unveiled in the Administrationโ€™s National Travel and Tourism Strategy to increase travel and tourism to the United States.โ€

The data announced today include purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the US, which totaled a record-breaking US$10.4 billion in March, an increase of nearly 12 percent from 2011. These goods and services include food, lodging, recreation, gifts, entertainment, local transportation, and other items incidental to foreign travel. Fares received by US. carriers and US vessel operators from international visitors increased nearly 16 percent to a historic high of US$3.3 billion in March. This represents an increase of nearly US$450 million when compared to March 2011, and resulted in a US$350 million trade surplus for passenger fares.

The US travel and tourism industry is a substantial component of US GDP, exports and employment, and efforts to make America the top tourist destination in the world offer a tremendous opportunity to create jobs and strengthen the US economy. International spending on US travel and tourism-related goods and services set an all-time record of US$153 billion in 2011, an 8.1 percent increase from 2010, and supported an additional 103,000 jobs for a total of 7.6 million industry jobs. These positive trends confirm the historic progress the US is making on the path to achieving the Presidentโ€™s National Export Initiative goal of doubling US exports by the end of 2014.

For more information, please visit www.trade.gov .

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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