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Real spending on travel and tourism (spending adjusted for price changes) increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in 2008:2, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In 2008:1, real spending on travel and tourism grew 0.5 percent (revised). By comparison, real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 3.3 percent (preliminary) in 2008:2 and 0.9 percent in 2008:1.
Real spending on accommodations turned up sharply, increasing 19.4 percent in 2008:2 after decreasing 9.1 percent in 2008:1. In contrast, real spending on passenger air transportation turned down sharply, decreasing 19.3 percent in 2008:2 after increasing 18.1 percent (revised) in 2008:1. Reductions in flights, higher airfares, and new fees intended to offset higher fuel costs reduced air travel, particularly to resorts. In response, hotels reduced prices and added incentives that increased overall hotel occupancy.
Employment supported directly by tourist spending rose 0.8 percent in 2008:1 (the most recent period for which data are available). In 2007:4, employment grew 2.9 percent (revised). By comparison, overall U.S. employment decreased 0.3 percent in 2008:1 after increasing 0.8 percent in 2007:4.
Also:
- Real spending on recreation and entertainment increased 1.4 percent in 2008:2 after declining 6.1 percent (revised) in 2008:1.
- Overall, prices for tourism goods and services continued to increase steadily, 6.1 percent in 2008:2, 5.1 percent in 2008:1, and 4.8 percent in 2007:4.
- Retail shopping by travelers increased 4.9 percent in 2008:2 and 0.3 percent in 2008:1.
Total Tourism-Related Spending. The U.S. production that tourism spending generates not only includes the goods and services that are purchased directly but also the inputs used to produce these goods and services—indirect tourism-related spending. In 2008:2, total current-dollar tourism-related spending of $1.4 trillion consisted of $794.8 billion (57 percent) of direct tourism spending—goods and services sold directly to visitors—and $611.3 billion (43 percent) of indirect tourism-related spending—goods and services used to produce what visitors buy.
Total Tourism-Related Employment. In 2008:1, total tourism-related employment of 8.6 million consisted of 5.9 million (69 percent) direct tourism jobs—jobs where workers produce goods and services sold directly to visitors—and 2.7 million (31 percent) indirect tourism-related jobs—jobs where workers produce goods and services used to produce what visitors buy.
Definitions
Tourism spending. Tourism spending comprises all goods and services purchased by tourists (defined as people who travel for any reason.). In the following tables, tourism spending is referred to as direct tourism output.
Indirect tourism-related spending. Indirect tourism-related spending comprises all output used as inputs in the process of producing direct tourism output (e.g., toiletries for hotel guests and the plastic used to produce souvenir key chains).
Total tourism-related spending. Total tourism-related spending is the sum of direct tourism spending and indirect tourism-related spending.
Direct tourism employment. Direct tourism employment comprises all jobs where the workers are engaged in the production of direct tourism output (such as hotel staff, airline pilots, and souvenir sellers).
Indirect tourism-related employment. Indirect tourism-related employment comprises all jobs where the workers are engaged in the production of indirect tourism-related output (e.g., employees of companies that produce toiletries for hotel guests and the plastic used to produce souvenir key chains).
Total tourism-related employment. Total tourism-related employment is the sum of direct tourism employment and indirect tourism-related employment.
These estimates are from BEA’s Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts (TTSAs), which are supported by funding from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The current-price estimates of direct tourism output were derived from BEA’s annual TTSAs (revised in June 2008) and from current-price quarterly estimates of personal consumption expenditures from the NIPAs. The constant-price estimates of direct tourism output were developed using price indexes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and constant-price quarterly estimates of personal consumption expenditures from the NIPAs. The estimates of direct tourism employment were derived from the annual TTSAs (revised in June 2008) and the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages from BLS. Employment data are available five to six months after the end of the reference quarter
Quarterly estimates are seasonally adjusted and expressed at annual rates, unless otherwise specified. Percent changes are calculated from unrounded data and annualized. “Real” estimates are in chained (2000) dollars. Price indexes are chain-type measures. Growth in overall U.S. employment is calculated using BLS Total nonfarm employment from Current Employment Statistics, www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm#data.
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Next release – Travel and Tourism estimates for third quarter 2008 will be released on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. EST.
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