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

June 08, 2011

INTERNATIONAL VISITATION UP TWO PERCENT FIRST QUARTER 2011

SPENDING AT $11.8 BILLION FOR THE MONTH

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that for the first three months of 2011, visitation (12.9 million) was up two percent compared to the same period in 2010. However, in March 2011, travel to the United States was flat compared to March 2010 with 4.8 million international visitors to the United States.

In March 2011, declines were registered in six of the nine overseas regions. Part of the decline was expected since the Easter holidays occurred at the end of April 2011. In 2010, the Easter holidays were at the end of March through the beginning of April.

International visitors spent $11.8 billion in March 2011, seven percent more than in March 2010. March 2011 marks the 15th consecutive month of growth in U.S. travel and tourism-related exports. During the first three months of 2011, international visitors spent nine percent more than they did during the first three months of 2010.

Highlights
Overseas Resident Visitation

• March YTD 2011, overseas resident visits (5.4 million) were up two percent compared to the same period of 2010.
• In March 2011, overseas resident visitation (1.9 million) was down six percent over March 2010.

North American Resident Visitation

• March YTD 2011, non-resident visits from Canada grew five percent while visits from Mexico declined three percent.
• In March 2011, non-resident visits from Canada were up five percent and visits from Mexico were up two percent.

Top 10 Countries (Sort based on YTD March 2011)

• During the first three months of 2011, six of the top 10 countries posted increases in visitation to the United States.
• In March 2011, seven of the top 10 countries posted increases in resident visitation.

Top 10 Countries (Sort based on YTD March 2011)

Top Ports: YTD March 2011
YTD March 2011, visitation through the top 15 ports of entry accounted for 84 percent of all overseas visits-one percentage point below last year. The top three ports (Miami, New York and Los Angeles) accounted for 41 percent of all overseas arrivals, more than one percentage point above last year. Seven of the top 15 ports posted increases in arrivals during the first three months of 2011. Four of these ports posted double-digit increases.

Access to OTTI Data
Manufacturing and Services' Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) collects, analyzes and disseminates international travel and tourism statistics from the U.S. Travel and Tourism Statistical System. OTTI produces visitation data tables, including a more detailed region, country and port analyses. On May 23, 2011, OTTI released 2010 visitation data for countries of origin and U.S. destinations. To access these data, you are encouraged to visit the OTTI monthly arrivals page at
<http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/view/m-2011-I-001/index.html>.

National Export Initiative
To improve conditions that directly affect the private sector's ability to export and to boost employment recovery, on March 11, 2010 President Obama created the National Export Initiative (NEI). The automation of the arrival/departure form [CBP Form I-94W] for Visa Waiver Program travelers supports this initiative as the automated form will greatly improve the measurement of international arrival data to the United States. To learn more about the NEI, you are encouraged to visit <http://www.trade.gov/nei/index.asp>.

Throughout this report, percent changes posted for international visitation to the United States for March 2011 were calculated by comparing data in March 2011 to data in March 2010. Also, percent changes posted for year to date 2011 were calculated by comparing data January - March 2011 to data January - March 2010.