International visits to the USA grow four percent

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Department of Commerce today announced that the United States welcomed 6.2 million international visitors in June 2015-216,000 more than in June 2014-a four percent increase in visitors. June 2015 marked the 18th consecutive month of growth in total U.S. visits since January 2014.

For the first six months of 2015, international visitation (36.0 million) was up four percent compared to the same period in 2014.

HIGHLIGHTS

Top Inbound International Markets

• The top inbound markets continued to be Canada and Mexico. Overnight volume from Canada totaled 1.5 million visitors in June 2015, a 14 percent decline (-14%) compared May 2014. At the same time, Mexico recorded 1.4 million visits to the United States, an increase of 13 percent. The United Kingdom (+21%), Japan (+2%) and the People’s Republic of China (excl HK) (+15%) rounded out the top five inbound markets.

• In June 2015 nine of the top 10 countries posted increases in non-resident visits. Non-resident visitation from six of the top 10 countries registered double-digit increases.

• YTD June 2015 nine of the top 10 countries posted increases in visitation to the United States.

Top 10 Countries
Country of Residence

(Sorted on June 2015) Percent Change June

2015 vs. 2014 Percent Change YTD June

2015 vs. 2014 Rank for YTD

June 2015

Canada -14% -6% 1
Mexico 13% 8% 2
United Kingdom 21% 14% 3
Japan 2% 2% 4
People’s Republic of China (EXCL HK) 15% 18% 5
Germany 11% 14% 7
Brazil 22% 5% 6
South Korea 10% 20% 8
Australia 8% 11% 10
France 5% 4% 9

Regional Markets

• Seven of the nine(4) major overseas regional markets recorded increases in non-resident visits to the United States during June 2015: Western Europe (+13%), Asia (+8%), South America (+13%), Oceania (+8%), the Caribbean (+9%), Central America (+7%), and Africa (+3%)

• YTD June 2015 two major regional market recorded decreases-the Middle East (-3%) and Eastern Europe (-2%).

Non-Resident Visits from Overseas(5) Countries

• June 2015 non-resident visits from overseas countries (3.3 million) were up 10 percent over the same period in 2014.

• In June 2015 travel from overseas markets accounted for 53 percent of total arrivals to the United States.

• YTD June 2015 overseas resident visits (17.3 million) were up nine percent compared to the first six months of 2014.
Top Ports: YTD June 2015

• YTD June 2015 visitation through the top 15 ports of entry accounted for 85.1 percent of all overseas visits compared to 84.0 percent in 2014.

• The top three ports (New York [JFK], Miami, and Los Angeles) accounted for 41.4 percent of all overseas arrivals compared to 41.5 percent in 2014.

• Fourteen of the top 15 ports recorded increases in arrivals in the first six months of 2015. Nine of these ports recorded double-digit increases.

Pleasure Travel vs. Business Travel: YTD June 2015

• During the first six months of 2015, of the top 20 overseas countries with visits to the United States, more than 90 percent of the visits recorded from Brazil (91%), Argentina (92%), Venezuela (90%), and Ecuador (93%) represented pleasure travel to the United States. On the contrary, 25 percent or more of the visits recorded from Germany (26%) and the Netherlands (30%) represented business travel to the United States.

• During the first six months of 2015 for all overseas non-resident visits to the United States, 79.8 percent represented pleasure travel and 16.6 percent represented business travel.