TI News: An information service from Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (OTTI)

June 29, 2007

2006 STATE, CITY VISITATION and TRAVELER CHARACTERISTICS DATA RELEASED
– More Women Travelers to the U.S. from Overseas than in 2005

The Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (OTTI) released the 2006 data on overseas travel to destinations in the United States. Key findings include:

New York continued to outpace California and Florida in 2006 as the top state/territory visited by overseas travelers.  California maintained its lead over Florida, although both states had a decline in visitation from 2005.  The next most visited states/territories were: Hawaii, Nevada, and Guam. To view the market share, volume estimate and percentage change for overseas travelers to the U.S. for 2005 and 2006, please visit OTTI's web site at: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/cat/documents/2006_States.xls.

The top cities visited by overseas travelers in 2006 were: New York City, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Miami, Honolulu, and Las Vegas. Only NYC experienced growth from among the top nine cities. Nonetheless, visitation to Boston and San Diego grew by double-digits. To view the market share, volume estimate, percentage change and shifts in the rankings for 2005 and 2006, please visit OTTI's web site at: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/cat/documents/2006_Cities.xls.

Destination visitation estimates are publicly released for 14 states and 16 cities, a lesser number than the 30 states and 49 cities released in 2005. This is due, in part, to an OTTI policy change whereby the minimum number of survey respondents was increased from 100 to 400 in order to increase the quality of the estimates. In 2006, the growth in overseas arrivals to the United States was flat. The overall decline in visitation to top destinations was offset by increased visitation to medium and smaller destinations.

Origin market profiles, consisting of seven world regions and 11 country profiles, are also posted on the website: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/index.html#inbound. There are fewer profiles released than in 2005 due to the aforementioned policy change. However, the profiles now provide more traveler characteristics data than in previous years. An analysis of the origin market profiles will provide insight as to the change in visitation levels to specific U.S. destinations. For example, if key countries for a destination registered slower growth or declines in travel to the United States (i.e., UK down four percent, Japan down five percent, Germany down two percent, France down 10 percent and Italy down two percent), those origin markets probably had an impact on visitation to the U.S. destination. Also, changes in key traveler characteristics, i.e., business versus leisure mix, the number of destinations visited, and their use of transportation within the country may also influence visitation.

The general profile of the overseas traveler may be viewed at http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/cat/f-2006-07-001.html and discloses the following traveler characteristics: trip planning factors, the purpose of trip (business and/or leisure), whether a tour package was used, the proportion of first time vs. repeat travelers to the country, demographics (age, gender, occupation type, income), activities and expenditures.

In addition to the aggregate level data available on the web site, OTTI also offers detailed and custom reports or data on a subscription basis. For information on the research programs that were used to generate the market intelligence data, see the publications section and custom reports section in the Research Programs area of the Survey of International Air Travelers (In-Flight Survey Program), at: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/research/programs/ifs/index.html. If you have any questions on the visitation estimates, please contact our office.

U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries
14th & Constitution Avenue NW, Room 1003
Washington, D.C. 20230
Phone:(202) 482-0140
Fax: (202) 482-2887
Email: Tinet_info@ita.doc.gov