For Immediate Release: October 29, 2012
Contact: Mara Lee (202) 482-3809
Travel and Tourism to the United Statets Increased 8 Percent Over the First 8 Months of 2012 - TOtal of $109.2 B Spent
Travel and tourism-related exports outpace imports by nearly $4 billion for the month
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration today announced that international visitors spent an estimated $13.8 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States during the month of August—$442 million more (3 percent) than was spent in August 2011. Travel and tourism-related exports have increased, on average, more than $1 billion a month during the first eight months of 2012.
“Today’s data builds on the positive momentum we’ve seen in the travel and tourism industry, which has been a particular bright spot as our economy continues to recover,” said Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sánchez. “America remains one of the top destinations in the world for international visitors, and 2012 is shaping up to be a record year for the travel and tourism industry. Through August, $109.2 billion was spent in America by international visitors, up more than 8 percent over the same period in 2011. These visitors help us create jobs and grow our economy, and that is why the Obama administration has made supporting the travel and tourism industry a priority.”
- Travel Receipts: Purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the United States totaled $10.5 billion during August, an increase of 5 percent when compared to last year. These goods and services include food, lodging, recreation, gifts, entertainment, local transportation in the United States, and other items incidental to foreign travel.
- Passenger Fare Receipts: U.S carriers received nearly $26.0 billion from international visitors during the first eight months of 2012, the strongest year-to-date performance on record.
Americans have spent nearly $80.1 billion abroad year to date (up 10 percent)—resulting in a $29.1 billion balance of trade surplus for travel and tourism through the first eight months of 2012.
All of these numbers underscore the importance of the travel and tourism industry to the U.S. economy – and the administration’s efforts to attract more international visitors to the United States – including welcoming them when they arrive.
In January 2012, President Obama signed an Executive Order and announced new administrative initiatives to significantly increase travel and tourism in the United States. This effort includes the National Travel and Tourism Strategy, which the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Interior presented to the president in May, as a blueprint to increase international travel to the United States in order to build on this growing sector of the economy. The strategy lays out concrete steps to be taken in five key areas, in addition to the goal of increasing international visitors to the United States. As part of those efforts, the Commerce Department is continuing to supply the travel and tourism industry with important data, including international arrivals to the United States, the forecast of international travel to America for more than 30 countries, and estimates of the total impact of travel and tourism on the economy, among other services.###
International Trade Administration
The International Trade Administration (ITA) is the premier resource for American companies competing in the global marketplace. ITA has 2,100 employees assisting U.S. exporters in more than 100 U.S. cities and 77 countries worldwide. For more information on ITA visit www.trade.gov.
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