us tourism expenditures

An official website of the United States government

The Journal of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

• Articles by Date
• Articles by Subject
• Infographics
• Research Spotlights

U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Account for 2017–2021

By Sarah Osborne  |  February 9, 2023

Download PDF

The travel and tourism industry—as measured by the real output of goods and services sold directly to visitors—increased 64.4 percent in 2021 after decreasing 50.7 percent in 2020, according to the most recent statistics from the Travel and Tourism Satellite Account (TTSA) of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). 1 By comparison, the broader economy, as measured by real gross domestic product (GDP), increased 5.9 percent in 2021 after decreasing 2.8 percent in 2020. Revised statistics on travel and tourism reflect the incorporation of the annual update of the National Economic Accounts, which was released on September 29, 2022. The 2022 Annual Update of the National Economic Accounts ,” Survey of Current Business 102 (November 2022)."> 2

Highlights from the TTSA include the following:

• As the industry entered the recovery period of the COVID–19 pandemic, travel and tourism's share of GDP increased from 1.54 percent in 2020 to 2.15 percent in 2021 ( table A ).
• The travel and tourism industry's real output increased $362.0 billion in 2021 but has not fully recovered from the pandemic. Travel and tourism’s real output for 2021 was 81.1 percent of its 2019 level ( table B ).
• The increase in 2021 is the largest expansion in real output since BEA began measuring these statistics in 1998.
• In 2021, real output increased for 21 of 24 commodities. The largest contributors to the increase were food and beverage services and shopping.
• Prices for travel and tourism goods and services increased 7.7 percent in 2021 after decreasing 5.0 percent in 2020. The largest contributors to the increase were gasoline, traveler accommodations, and automotive rental and leasing ( table C ).
• The TTSA is available on the BEA website; see the box “ Data Availability .”

The remainder of this article includes a discussion of trends in travel and tourism output, prices, value added, and employment.

Trends in Output and Prices

Real output.

Travel and tourism real output increased 64.4 percent in 2021. The largest contributors were food and beverage services, shopping, domestic passenger air transportation services, and traveler accommodations (table B and chart 1).

The upturn in real output (from a decrease of 50.7 percent in 2020 to an increase 64.4 percent in 2021) was led by upturns in food and beverage services, shopping, domestic passenger air transportation service, and traveler accommodations.

[View larger chart]

Travel and tourism prices turned up in 2021, increasing 7.7 percent after decreasing 5.0 percent in 2020, with prices of 21 of 24 commodities contributing to the increase (table C and chart 2). The upturn was led by upturns in gasoline, traveler accommodations, and automotive rental and leasing and a smaller decrease in domestic passenger air transportation.

Total output

Total tourism-related current-dollar, or nominal, output increased to $1.70 trillion in 2021, up from $952.0 billion in 2020. In 2021, total output consisted of $987.7 billion in direct tourism output and $716.3 billion in indirect tourism output. The 1.73 ratio of total output to direct output in 2021 means that every dollar of direct tourism output requires an additional 73 cents of indirect tourism output (chart 3).

Direct tourism output includes goods and services sold directly to visitors, such as passenger air travel. Indirect tourism output includes sales of all goods and services used to produce that direct output, such as jet fuel to fly the plane and catering services for longer flights.

Tourism Value Added and Employment

Value added.

A sector's value added measures its share of gross domestic product. The travel and tourism industry's share of GDP was 2.15 percent in 2021, 1.54 percent in 2020, and 2.99 in 2019 (table A). This pattern indicates that travel and tourism industries contracted and expanded disproportionately to non-travel and tourism industries during the COVID–19 pandemic.

Direct employment

Direct tourism employment refers to jobs that are directly related to visitor spending on goods and services. Airline pilots, hotel clerks, and travel agents are examples of such employees. Overall, direct employment increased by 1.3 million jobs in 2021 after decreasing by 2.9 million jobs in 2020. The largest contributors to the 2021 increase were food services and drinking places, which gained 730,000 jobs in 2021; shopping, which gained 206,000 jobs; and participant sports, which gained 86,000 jobs (chart 4 and table D).

Total employment

Total tourism-related employment (the sum of direct and indirect jobs) increased to 7.4 million jobs in 2021 from 5.5 million jobs in 2020. The 7.4 million jobs consisted of 4.8 million direct tourism jobs and 2.6 million indirect tourism jobs (chart 5). While direct tourism employment includes jobs that produce direct tourism output, such as airline pilots, indirect tourism employment is generated by the businesses that supply goods and services to the tourism sector, such as refinery workers producing jet fuel. Data for 2021 indicate that for every 100 jobs supported directly by the travel and tourism industry, an additional 53 indirect tourism jobs are also required.

• All measures of travel and tourism activity not identified as being in “real,” inflation-adjusted terms are current-dollar, or nominal, estimates.
• For more information see “ The 2022 Annual Update of the National Economic Accounts ,” Survey of Current Business 102 (November 2022).

Subscribe to the SCB

The Survey of Current Business is published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Guidelines for citing BEA information.

Survey of Current Business

bea.gov/scb [email protected]

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Commerce

• Fact Sheets

Was this page helpful?

Fact sheet: 2022 national travel and tourism strategy, office of public affairs.

The 2022 National Travel and Tourism Strategy was released on June 6, 2022, by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo on behalf of the Tourism Policy Council (TPC). The new strategy focuses the full efforts of the federal government to promote the United States as a premier destination grounded in the breadth and diversity of our communities, and to foster a sector that drives economic growth, creates good jobs, and bolsters conservation and sustainability. Drawing on engagement and capabilities from across the federal government, the strategy aims to support broad-based economic growth in travel and tourism across the United States, its territories, and the District of Columbia.

The federal government will work to implement the strategy under the leadership of the TPC and in partnership with the private sector, aiming toward an ambitious five-year goal of increasing American jobs by attracting and welcoming 90 million international visitors, who we estimate will spend $279 billion, annually by 2027.

The new National Travel and Tourism Strategy supports growth and competitiveness for an industry that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, generated $1.9 trillion in economic output and supported 9.5 million American jobs. Also, in 2019, nearly 80 million international travelers visited the United States and contributed nearly $240 billion to the U.S. economy, making the United States the global leader in revenue from international travel and tourism. As the top services export for the United States that year, travel and tourism generated a $53.4 billion trade surplus and supported 1 million jobs in the United States.

The strategy follows a four-point approach:

• Promoting the United States as a Travel Destination Goal : Leverage existing programs and assets to promote the United States to international visitors and broaden marketing efforts to encourage visitation to underserved communities.
• Facilitating Travel to and Within the United States Goal : Reduce barriers to trade in travel services and make it safer and more efficient for visitors to enter and travel within the United States.
• Ensuring Diverse, Inclusive, and Accessible Tourism Experiences Goal : Extend the benefits of travel and tourism by supporting the development of diverse tourism products, focusing on under-served communities and populations. Address the financial and workplace needs of travel and tourism businesses, supporting destination communities as they grow their tourism economies. Deliver world-class experiences and customer service at federal lands and waters that showcase the nation’s assets while protecting them for future generations.
• Fostering Resilient and Sustainable Travel and Tourism Goal : Reduce travel and tourism’s contributions to climate change and build a travel and tourism sector that is resilient to natural disasters, public health threats, and the impacts of climate change. Build a sustainable sector that integrates protecting natural resources, supporting the tourism economy, and ensuring equitable development.

Travel and Tourism Fast Facts

• The travel and tourism industry supported 9.5 million American jobs through $1.9 trillion of economic activity in 2019. In fact, 1 in every 20 jobs in the United States was either directly or indirectly supported by travel and tourism. These jobs can be found in industries like lodging, food services, arts, entertainment, recreation, transportation, and education.
• Travel and tourism was the top services export for the United States in 2019, generating a $53.4 billion trade surplus.
• The travel and tourism industry was one of the U.S. business sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent health and travel restrictions, with travel exports decreasing nearly 65% from 2019 to 2020. 
• The decline in travel and tourism contributed heavily to unemployment; leisure and hospitality lost 8.2 million jobs between February and April 2020 alone, accounting for 37% of the decline in overall nonfarm employment during that time. 
• By 2021, the rollout of vaccines and lifting of international and domestic restrictions allowed travel and tourism to begin its recovery. International arrivals to the United States grew to 22.1 million in 2021, up from 19.2 million in 2020. Spending by international visitors also grew, reaching $81.0 billion, or 34 percent of 2019’s total.

More about the Tourism Policy Council and the 2022 National Travel and Tourism Strategy

Created by Congress and chaired by Secretary Raimondo, the Tourism Policy Council (TPC) is the interagency council charged with coordinating national policies and programs relating to travel and tourism. At the direction of Secretary Raimondo, the TPC created a new five-year strategy to focus U.S. government efforts in support of the travel and tourism sector which has been deeply and disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full strategy here

• Diversity Inclusion
• Advisory Panel
• Our Audience
• Private Tourism Academies
• Tourism Ambassador Training
• Destination Training
• Tourism Keynote Speakers
• Sponsorship
• Business Class Podcast
• Skill & Knowledge
• Product Training
• Our Technology
• Become An Instructor
• Sponsorship Opportunities
• Product Training & Promotion
• Hire Us To Speak

U.S. Travel & Tourism Statistics 2020-2021

The ultimate fact guide to america's tourism industry including outbound, inbound, domestic & business travel figures..

The American tourism industry is thriving, International and domestic travel is currently contribution over $1.1 trillion to the United States GDP every year. When looking at the annual travel split of domestic and international travel, Americans domestically traveling within the country last year made up the lion's share, totaling 2.29 Billion, a 2% increase from the previous year. Following past US tourism trends, the volume of Americans outbound traveling internationally was of course much less, amounting to 79.6 Million, which was a 3.5% increase from the previous year.

Leisure based travel accounts for 73.8% of all tourism in America, leaving 26.2% for business and other reasons. Overall the tourism expenditure accounts for $1,089 Billion a year, and the industry provides a direct source of employment for 5.29 million jobs.

RELATED: 2022 Tourism Trends & Outlook

RELATED: Tourism Experts & Inspiring Speakers For Your Next Meeting

TOP U.S. TOURISM STATISTICS:

US Citizen domestic tourism:   Americans take 2.29 Billion domestic trips each year.

US Citizen outbound tourism:   Americans take 93.0 Million international outbound trips each year.

International Inbound Tourism:   Annually, there are currently 79.6 Million international visitors to the US.

$1,089 Billion:   Yearly American tourism expenditure ($932.7b domestic / $156.3b international)

Expenditure sources:   $267.7B on food services, $232.2B on lodging, $200.4B on public transport, $166.5B on auto transportation, $112.6B on recreation, $109.6B on retail.

15.7 Million   American jobs were supported by travel in 2018.

By 2028,   yearly U.S. tourism is estimated to hit the $2.4 trillion mark.

Days/yr. traveled by age group: Gen Z   (29 days) , Millennials   (35 days) , Gen X   (26 days)   and Baby Boomers   (27 days).

Top 5 inbound countries:   Mexico (19.1m), Canada (12.3m), UK (4.9), Japan (3.4), China (2.9)

Top 5 outbound by continent:   Europe (17.7m), Caribbean (8.7m), Asia (6.2m), South America (2.1m), Central America (3.2m)

Top US cities visited:   New York (9.8m), Miami (5.38m), LA (4.98m), Orlando (4.47m), San Francisco (3.57m), Vegas (3.33m)

Business vs. leisure:   U.S. travelers took 466.2 million domestic trips for business (26.2%), and 1,779.7 million for leisure (73.8%)

hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(8602415, 'b0bae044-f1ad-4d53-8aec-bd61f4894c04', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"});

Quick links: navigate our statistic topics, how many americans travel out of their country a year, how much did americans and tourists spend on travel last year, how much is the travel industry worth to america, which american age groups travel the most, why do americans travel, what are the popular trending activities in america, how do americans book their travel.

Find a Tourism Expert, Keynote Speaker or Travel & Hospitality Trainer

US INBOUND & OUTBOUND TOURISM STATISTICS

US domestic travel increased by +2%  YTD in 2019 with Americans taking 2.29 Billion domestic trips.

Domestic leisure travel increased 1.9%   in 2019 to 1.9 billion.

80% of all US domestic trips  were for leisure travel in 2019.

Domestic business travel in 2019   accounted for 464 million trips.

US Citizen outbound tourism:   Americans take 93.0 Million international outbound trips each year. (+6.3% YTD Change)

International Inbound Tourism:   Annually, there are currently 79.6 Million international visitors to the US. (+3.5% YTD Change)

Top 5 inbound countries:   Mexico (19.1m), Canada (12.3m), UK (4.9), Japan (3.4), China (2.9).

Top 5 outbound by continent:   Europe (17.7m), Caribbean (8.7m), Asia (6.2m), South America (2.1m), Central America (3.2m).

Top US cities visited:   New York (9.8m), Miami (5.38m), LA (4.98m), Orlando (4.47m), San Francisco (3.57m), Vegas (3.33m).

Each year,   35% of American families   plan vacations 50 miles or more from home.

In a Travel Leaders Group survey,   24%   of Americans stated they plan to travel to Europe.

22%   of American vacations are via road trips.

USA’s top 5 road trip routes:   #1 Las Vegas – National Parks, #2 Northern California - Southern Oregon Coast, #3 Northern New England, #4 Blue Ridge Parkway #5 Black Hills.

The lion’s share of the United States tourism is from its own citizen’s domestic travel, with over 2.29 billion Americans taking trips within the country. This saw a +2% year to date increase, which is enormous considering that domestic travel spend was worth $932.7 Billion.

As you can see from the US outbound travel statistics above, the number of Americans traveling out of the country is remarkably low compared to domestic travel. According to Trade.gov, outbound tourism hit 93 Million last year and saw a sizable +6.3% year to date increase, showing more Americans are willing to take an outbound trip and travel out the country.

The outbound travel expenditure of these 93 million people was worth $156.3 Billion to America’s tourism industry, so 6.3% is a very significant outbound tourism statistic! The hottest US outbound destinations were Europe, Caribbean, Asia, South America, and Central America.

The US inbound tourism statistics also paint a fascinating picture of America’s continued tourism industry growth, with visitors flocking from Mexico, Canada, UK, Japan, and China. International visitors totaled 79.6 Million with a 3.5% year to date increase, with the top US vacation destinations being cities such as New York, Miami, LA, Orlando, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.

Sources :   Statista ,   AAA ,   TravelLeadersGroup ,   TravelAgentCentral ,   MMGY

RELATED: Keynote Talks, Custom Training Programs & LIVE Workshops

AMERICAS TOURISM INDUSTRY SPEND STATISTICS

American’s spent around   $930 billion USD   on domestic travel in 2018.

In 2017 the amount spent on summer vacations was around   $101.1 billion USD , up from $89.9 billion in 2016.

$1.1 Trillion   / $1,089 Billion: Yearly U.S. travel and tourism expenditure ($932.7b domestic / $156.3b international).

U.S. leisure spend totalled   $761.7 billion   in 2018 from domestic and international travellers.

U.S. business sped totalled   $327 billion   in 2018, with $136 Billion from travellers attending conventions or meetings.

Expenditure Sources:   $267.7B on food services, $232.2B on lodging, $200.4B on public transport, $166.5B on auto transportation, $112.6B on recreation, $109.6B on retail.

Behind nightlife/dining,   travel was voted   America’s most popular choice for spending disposable income at   36%.

$101.1 Billion   is spent every year in America on summer vacations alone.

The average American spends   $6,080 on international trips.

Inbound overseas tourists stay an average of 18 nights and   spend $4,200   while in America.

Overseas travellers account for   84%   of international tourist spend, despite being half of all international arrivals.

Canadian tourists are the biggest spenders with   £22.2 billion   in the U.S. every year.

New York brings in  $16.1 Billion   a year from international visitors.

If you’re wondering how much Americans spend on travel each year, it was huge; International and domestic travelers spent $1.1 Trillion US dollars ($1,089 Billion). Americans spending through domestic travel increased by a massive +5.8% year to date, whereas international tourism spends only saw a 0.3% bump from the previous year. To break this down, this sort of spending would support 8.9M jobs, which in turn would generate $171 Billion in tax and $268 Billion in payroll.

Out of the $1.1 Trillion spending, leisure travelers from both international and domestic spent $762 Billion in 2018, which was a +6.1% increase from the previous year. When looking at business travel spend, it had risen +2.4% to $327 Billion, with 41.5% coming from

What are American tourists spending this $1.1 Trillion on? According to the latest US travel spending statistics, food services such as restaurants, bars, and grocery stores were the most popular spending category at 26.7%. This was followed by 23.1% on lodging, 20.0% on public transport, 16.6% on auto transportation, 11.2% on recreation, and 10.9% on retail.

Furthermore, this $1.1 Trillion spending isn’t the only financial impact of the tourists. When you look at the inputs used to supply or produce the goods travelers desire, and take into account the spend of the employees of travel businesses – there is a considerable multiplier of the financial impact to the US economy, estimated to be a total of $2.5 Trillion.

Sources :  US Travel ,  US Travel 2 ,  Phocuswright ,  TravelAgenctCentral ,  Squaremouth ,  Statista

RELATED: Engaging & Insightful Speakers

US TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY JOB STATISTICS  

The travel industry accounts for   7.1%   of America’s private employment.

15.7 Million American jobs   were supported by travel in 2018.

8.92 Million   American travel-related jobs were supported by tourism in 2018 (7.73M domestic / 1.19M international)

$1 Million   in travel revenue directly produces eight jobs with the industry.

1 in 10 jobs   in the U.S. depend on the travel industry (Excluding farming).

$267.9 Billion   in payroll is generated yearly by U.S. travel and tourism ($234.6 Billion domestic / $33.3 Billion international).

$170.9 Billion   in tax revenue is generated yearly by U.S. travel and tourism ($147.3 Billion domestic / $23.6 Billion international).

A massive   $117.4 billion   of the $170.9b in tax revenue was spent on leisure travel, $53.5b on business.

International and domestic business travel generated   $327.3 billion   in 2018 through direct spending.

In 2018, U.S. residents recorded   463.6M   trips for business (38% being events and meetings).

The tourism industry is vital to the US economy, so much so that it accounts for 7.1% of the countries private employment. Overall, 15.7 Million American jobs were supported by the tourism industry last year, making one in eight non-farm jobs dependent on it in some way, direct and indirectly. The trend is on the up, the 15.7 Million American jobs in the travel industry had a +1.3% increase from the previous year.

Jobs, where workers are supplying goods or services directly to visitors, would be classed as ‘direct’ - this supported 8.9 million U.S. travel-specific jobs. The remaining 6.8 Million jobs were classed as indirect, these would include areas whereby workers created goods or services which helped produce the goods or services (sold or used by the 8.9M direct jobs).

The travel industry is known for being extremely labor intensive, its upwards trends have the power to develop new career opportunities much fast than any other niche. If you exclude the farming industry, one in ten jobs would be dependent on the travel industry – as an example, one in five non-farming industry jobs would be created from $1 million sales, but the same value in the travel industry would create one in eight.

Sources :  US Travel 1 ,  US Travel 2

US TRAVEL STATISTICS BY DEMOGRAPHIC

42%   of Americans own a passport, up from 27% 10 years ago.

Days a year traveling by age: Millennials ( 35 days ), Gen Z ( 29 days ), Baby Boomers ( 27 days ), and Gen X ( 26 days ).

Millennials :   62%   of parents travel with kids under five.

Millennials :   58%   prefer traveling with friends, 49% book last-minute vacations.

Millennials :   58%   want to solo travel,   26%   already have.

Solo Travel Women:   Take 3 more trips a year and are the most likely to travel alone.

Solo Travel: 43%   take over three trips a year.

Solo Travel: 50%   have a college or university diploma/degree.

Family: 4 out of 10   plan a trip with a family each year.

Family: 80%   take summertime trips to travel with family.

Family: 42%   opt for spring break vacations.

Baby Boomers:   Aim to take 4+ leisure vacations a year.

Baby Boomers: 30%   opt for a cruise as their vacation choice.

When analyzing the latest US outbound travel statistics by age, it was clear that millennials are the group willing to travel for the most extended period at 35 days a year, while generation X vacationed an average of 26 days.

Millennial Americans that are without children are now less of the typical ‘tourist’ and more of the ‘experience’ generation. Most of their booking habits are focused on exploring cultures, booking retreats, or activities rather than visiting theme parks and tourist trap areas. Their freedom and spontaneity let almost half of them book last-minute vacations, with or without friends as, to them, solo travel means cultural growth and meeting new people.

These travel age statistics also show us that half of the solo travelers take up to 3 more trips a year, have a college or university degree, and American solo travel is more prominent in women. What percentage of Americans own a passport? The myth was only one in ten do which appears in many blogs across the web, but now the Census and State department confirm that over 42% of Americans own a passport.

One travel by age group statistic shows almost one in three baby boomers opt for a cruise as their vacation and aim to take at least 4 trips per year. When it comes to families, the majority go during summer break (80%), and only 4 in 10 plan trips with their family. However, millennial families are far more likely to travel with younger children, at 62%.

Sources : Expedia, Resonanceco,  InternetMarketingInc ,  PRNewswire ,  SoloTravelWorld ,  TravelAgentCentral ,  NYU 1 ,  NYU 2 ,  AARP ,  TripAdvisor

REASONS AMERICANS TRAVEL FACTS & STATISTICS

Business/Leisure: U.S. travellers took   466.2 million   domestic trips for business (26.2%), and   1,779.7 million   for leisure (73.8%).

Family:   95%   prioritized their family to be happy and entertained.

Family:   89%   prioritized vacation deals and value.

Family:   85%   needed planning around school holidays.

Family:   85%   wanted outdoor activities for their family.

Gen Z:   55%   travelled to increase their knowledge and experience.

Gen Z:   40%   travelled to avoid stress and relax.

Millennials:   43%   want to find themselves.

Millennials:   23%   want to meet new people.

57%   of U.S. travellers would choose a free heritage vacation over alcohol for a year.

56%   of global international travellers agree it taught them life skills.

51%   want to escape normal life and recharge mentally.

42%   take trips to visit friends and family.

35%   are travelling to experience local delicacies.

Top   bucket list vacations   are volunteering trips (39%), food travel adventure (38%), mystery journey (38%), ancestry/heritage trip (36%), and sabbatical (36%).

59%   of solo travellers stated the reason they went alone is to see the world without waiting for others.

Why do Americans travel? When looking at the data from several survey sources, it was clear that the gender and age of respondents had little impact on the three most important factors.

RELATED: Find An Inspiring Tourism Speaker For Your Next Event

The most important reasons why Americans travel were:

Being with friends and family

Fun experiences (did index higher in younger generations)

Relaxing and unwinding

In terms of gender-based travel reasons, men indexed higher than women overall for exploring the great outdoors or outdoor activities that fall into that category. Generation Z, Millennials, or general age groups from 18-35 had higher responses around wanting to travel for music events or festivals than people aged 35 and over.

The most important trend we’ve noticed from reviewing multiple studies around American’s desires for travel is that younger generations are factoring in ‘experience tourism,’ this was very common in their responses. Experience tourism can be defined by people wanting to book activities or retreats, meet new people and ‘find themselves’. This is popular among solo travellers, like a cultural trip to Thailand for a detox retreat rather than visiting a traditional tourist attraction like a theme park.

Americans over 35 were keen on finding a vacation where food and drink was priority. Visiting a town or city that had cultural foodie scenes or breweries were very trendy.

Sources : ShortTermRentalz,  Wysetc ,  Trekksoft ,  TravelNews ,  USTravel ,  Booking.com ,  HospitalityNet ,  SoloTravelWorld

US TOURISM & TRAVEL ACTIVITY STATISTICS

Top 5 culture activities:   #1) 65% visit history/art museums, #2) 59% visit aquariums, #3) 56% visit science museums, #4) 55% visit theme parks, #5) 55% visit zoos

73%   of families take their children to a theme park, 34% aim for a world famous one.

Overseas visitors top 5 activities:   #1) 54% Shopping, #2) 49% visit historical/cultural sights, #3) 49% Restaurants, #4) 46% Monuments / National Parks, #5) 46% Sightseeing tours.

Trending:   89% increase in sunset cruise excursions trips since last year.

Trending : 64% increase in snorkelling activities since last year.

Trending : 55% increase in sailing trips since last year.

Trending : 49% increase in kayaking and canoeing experiences since last year.

33%   of visitors will get spa or beauty treatments while on vacation.

15%   of travellers book mindfulness or meditation retreats.

One of the reasons Americans do not travel abroad that much is that there is so much to offer in their own country. There is a wealth of cultural activities such as art galleries, museums that index high on the popular activities list, not to mention the volume of theme parks, zoos, and aquariums across the country.

Families want to book all-inclusive trips where everything is taken care of, and they can focus on shopping or taking their children sightseeing. An overwhelming volume of people wanted to book a cruise in the future, which pairs well with relaxing is one of the most popular reasons for travel data above. Cruises were particularly popular in respondents over the age of 45, as well as self-guided tours, whereas group tours were one of the least popular options for booking.

Even though sporting related activities are trending up, going to a physical sporting event was one of the least popular reasons Americans book travel, with most wanting to support their team… from home.

Sources :  MMGY ,  NYU , StatisticBrain,  TripAdvisor ,  Booking.com

RELATED: Online Destination Training For Agents

US TOURISM BOOKING STATISTICS

65%   of hotels are booked on the smartphone the same day as it was researched.

79%   of Americans researching trips will eventually book on their smartphone via app or online.

90%   of U.S. travellers use apps at their destination to make life easy.

#1 factor   in Americans booking travel is price, but reviews and amenities are close runners up.

Americans aged 18-24 classed   reviews   as the second most crucial factor in the booking.

Overall, travel is most commonly booked between   1 to 3 months   in advance.

Men are more likely to last-minute book their trips   2 to 4 weeks   out.

Excluding price as the main factor for Americans booking travel, amenities, and reviews were the most popular choices. So when comparing hotels, resorts or cruises of similar price, these are the factors that will sway the booking decision.

Popular amenities people look for when booking hotels are free breakfasts, pool access, fitness centers, and on-site restaurants. Public transportation was the least influential factor for people considering amenities when booking; this increased with ride-share options.

Only 11% of travellers book trips 6 months out; the most standard booking periods were for trips within 1 to 3 months.

Demographics wise, travelers without children would be the target market for last-minute booking, the no strings attached lifestyle leaves their schedules open. This makes them the ideal target for using last-minute deals to sign them up to hotel or travel loyalty programs.

Sources : StatisticBrain,  ThinkWithGoogle ,  Trekksoft

Leave a comment

Related articles, these six tourism trends will rule 2022, tourism academy announces top travel trends for 2023, top 20 tourism keynote topics for inspiring journeys.

• Student Outreach
• Research Support
• Executive Education
• News & Announcements
• Jobs & Opportunities
• Annual Reports
• Faculty Working Papers
• Building State Capability
• Colombia Education Initiative
• Evidence for Policy Design
• Reimagining the Economy
• Social Protection Initiative
• Past Programs
• Speaker Series
• Global Empowerment Meeting (GEM)
• NEUDC 2023 Conference

Tourist Spending Insights Provide Unprecedented View of Global Tourism

In this section.

Authors: Frank Neffke, Sid Ravinutala, and Bruno Zuccolo

Tourism is an important sector in the global economy. Today, 10.4% of the world’s GDP and 7% of the world’s total exports come from tourism. The industry is worth over US$ 1.1 trillion. The money earned from expenditures by foreigners are crucial drivers of economic development and can be an important source of foreign exchange. Moreover, growing tourism can help create employment opportunities for marginalized populations.

However, due to a lack of data, we have only a limited understanding of tourism’s role in the global economy: Which countries do the visitors who spend the most come from? What are the most visited places? What types of businesses do tourists spend their money on? The Center for International Development (CID) is collaborating with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to better understand these issues and explore tourism’s impact on economies across the world. Through the collaboration, CID researchers have been able to use anonymized and aggregated transaction data 1 to study foreign tourist spending 2 patterns in 40 countries from 2011 to 2016, including most of Europe, the United States, and select countries in South America and Oceania. These destinations account for over 60% of all tourism in the world.

Across 40 countries in our data

Tourism accounts for more than 8% of this expanded definition of exports, comparable to the trade in oil and energy, and agricultural products.

How important is tourism as an export category? In a globalized world, the products we consume are increasingly produced elsewhere and firms often source their machinery and raw materials from across the globe. This all happens seamlessly: most consumers are often unaware of where merchandise was produced. However, at the level of a national economy, to pay for imports, a country has to amass foreign exchange: it has to sell something in return to customers outside its borders. Countries pay for their imports by exporting goods, services and capital—that is, by trading with other countries. When we envision this trade, we picture shiploads of toys, cars and raw materials crisscrossing the globe; but this is only one version of trade. Foreigners can also buy goods and services by coming to our country, an activity also known as tourism. In this sense, tourism is a substantial component of global trade.

Note that in this story, it does not matter much what is sold to foreign visitors, as long as they pay with money earned elsewhere. In this wider definition, tourism income is not limited to restaurant and hotel bills, but includes all types of expenditures ranging from transportation to medical care to clothing and educational services. However, unlike trade in goods, which is recorded by customs offices at the border, national statistics often only provide a poor account of tourism income. With exports of goods, we know exactly how much and which products are traded with whom, yet we have a vague understanding of how a country earns foreign exchange from tourists.

In our research, we added up a country’s tourism income with its income from traditional exports of goods. For the total tourism income for a country, we rely on national aggregates reported by the IMF and leverage aggregated and anonymized transaction data provided by Mastercard to divide the total expenditures into different categories, based on what these data indicate about the types of merchants where tourists spend their money.

Across the 40 countries, our data show that tourism tourism accounts for over 8 percent of this expanded definition of exports, making it comparable to trade in oil and energy, and just slightly smaller than trade in agricultural products. Figure 1 shows the breakdown of exports by category, with tourism expenditures depicted in red.

Figure 1 – Total export of goods and tourism by sector, for the 40 countries analyzed

Sources: The Atlas of Economic Complexity , IMF, and Mastercard

Total expenditures by tourists (the absolute size of the red rectangle) are taken from the IMF. The relative breakdown by expenditure type within tourism is gleaned from leveraging insights based on Mastercard’s aggregated and anonymized transaction data. Choose a country from the drop-down menu to explore the importance of tourism as an export for individual countries by year. Click on any of the industries to see the breakdown of exports within that industry, including types of tourism.

There is substantial variation across countries. For some countries, tourism is almost as important a source of foreign exchange as all exported goods combined: in Cyprus the share of tourism in our expanded exports definition is 52 percent, in Croatia it is 42 percent, in Iceland 39 percent, in Greece 36 percent and in Luxembourg 22 percent. While Croatia and Greece are well-known tourist destinations, the reliance of Luxembourg on tourism revenues may be more surprising. Here, it is important to remember that the definition of tourism, the one relevant from a foreign exchange perspective, encompasses all purchases of goods and services made by foreign citizens in a particular country. This includes income of typical tourist industries, such as hospitality and entertainment, but also of education, health care, and shops. Much of the tourism expenditures in Luxembourg are related to visitors from neighboring countries shopping for groceries or filling up their tanks at lower-taxed gas stations.

Is the Mastercard spend index a reliable reflection of tourism expenditures? Many governments provide high-level information on tourism income in their balance of payment statistics. We can compare yearly tourism income reported by the IMF to the index of expenditures based on Mastercard’s aggregated and anonymized transaction data for each of the 40 countries over a six-year period. As shown in the scatterplot of Figure 2, the two measures line up very well on a log scale. The correlation of 0.932 shows that the Mastercard spend index provides highly reliable estimates of the distribution of tourism across countries and years.

Figure 2 – Correlation of revenues by country and year

Source: International Monetary Fund (2018) and indexed tourism spend based on Mastercard’s aggregated and anonymized transaction data

To explore the growth of tourism, Figure 3 plots how the index of tourism expenditures changes in each of the destination countries over time, using 2011 as the base year. The dotted line represents the average of the 40 countries.

Figure 3: Yearly indexed spend trends by country, 2011-2016

Whereas average growth in tourism in our sample of countries was rather flat, there are some fast-growing destinations, with Iceland (19% annualized growth rate), Colombia (9.3%), Malta (8.3%), Lithuania (7.1%) and Romania (6.9%) leading the pack. Iceland’s growth has far outpaced any of its peers’, riding a strong and long-lasting tourism boom that helped it recover more quickly from the 2008 financial crisis. It’s a remarkable success for a small country that has invested heavily in marketing itself as a hub between Europe and North America through its flagship airline Icelandair .

Where is this growth coming from? Figure 4 shows the origins of the increase in tourist expenditures in the United States. Asian countries form a fast-growing market for the United States, but we also see some growth from eastern European countries, Australia and New Zealand. One of the most striking features of the map in Figure 4, however, is the rise of tourism from China, which has grown at a whopping 22 percent a year since 2011. On the other end of the spectrum, we see an astounding 43 percent a year contraction in Venezuelan tourism expenditures, a reflection of the precipitous collapse of the Venezuelan economy.

Figure 4 – Annual growth of indexed spend in the USA by origin countries, 2011-2016

Payment card data insights: tourism under the microscope For the analyses so far (except Figure 4), we could have just relied on the statistics the IMF provides. However, Mastercard’s aggregated and anonymized transaction data also allows us to zoom in on tourism, by breaking down expenditures in different ways. First of all, we can look at the types of merchants where tourists make purchases. Mastercard classified all merchants accepting payment cards into 27 categories. By far the largest is “Finance and Insurance,” accounting for about a quarter of total spending. This category includes all the money withdrawn from ATMs by foreign cardholders, but it does not indicate the merchants where the tourists are spending the cash they withdraw. Therefore, we focus on the expenditures in the remaining merchant types, which are depicted in Figure 5.

Figure 5 – Share of total indexed spend by merchant type in all countries

Figure 5 immediately highlights one of the main benefits offered by Mastercard’s aggregated and anonymized transaction data. What we would typically think of as the “tourism sector”—the hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality services in a country (here classified as “Accommodations and Food Services”)—make up just 30% of all tourist expenditures. Focusing on this one sector would therefore miss most of the economic impact of tourism (it also risks erroneously classifying expenditures by locals in hotels and restaurants as “tourism.” Instead, our analysis reveals that foreigners also spend significant amounts on “Apparel and Accessories,” “Grocery and Food Stores,” and more.

Apart from knowing what categories tourists spend their money on, we can also see where they spend it. This allows us to compare cities in terms of what tourists are looking for when they visit a place. As an example, take Figures 6 and 7, which compare the expenditure patterns of tourists in Naples and Milan:

Figure 6 – Spend by merchant type in Naples (2016)

Figure 7 – Spend by merchant type in Milan (2016)

Both cities attract many foreign visitors. However, they differ drastically in the services sought by these tourists. Naples earns most of its money through its many excellent restaurants and hotels, whereas tourists spend at about twice the rate in the clothing stores of Milan. Milan and Naples’ reputations as the fashion and culinary centers of Italy are thus clearly reflected in their visitors’ spending patterns.

Another way to compare cities is by origin of tourists. The figures below exemplify this by comparing Los Angeles to New York City:

Figure 8 – Spend by origin in Los Angeles (2016)

Figure 9 – Spend by origin in New York (2016)

Located on opposite coasts, NYC and LA have very different tourist profiles. Tourism in NYC is dominated by European visitors, while LA’s relative proximity to other Pacific nations makes it an attractive destination for tourists from Asia and Oceania. For instance, the share of tourism expenditures being made by tourists from China in LA is almost three times as large as in NYC.

These graphs show how Mastercard’s aggregated and anonymized transaction data allow us to break down tourism in various, meaningful ways. This gives us a unique lens on the nature of tourism as an export category and provides us with an invaluable tool for understanding the role of tourism in inclusive growth. It helps address questions such as: How can we classify tourism into different types? What kind of services do different types of tourists require? Can we predict where new tourist destinations will arise and who will visit them? And, most importantly, can tourism accelerate economic development and be a source of inclusive growth? – Stay tuned!

1 The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth is committed to advancing sustainable and equitable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world, collaborating with a diverse community of academic and research institutions by providing access to aggregated and anonymized transaction data. In its collaboration with CID, Mastercard provided controlled access to data that was aggregated, anonymized, and subject to additional privacy and data protection safeguards. In addition to these safeguards, access to the data was provided for academic research purposes only and subject to Harvard University's stringent confidentiality requirements.

2 Data on expenditures was aggregated to a combination of a country of origin, a location within a country of destination, and a merchant type for a given time window. Absolute expenditure values were replaced by an index that makes relative comparisons across the data set. Additionally, expenditures were scaled to reflect spend in the foreign expenditures market as a whole, not just the share serviced by Mastercard.

Media inquiries

Contact: Chuck McKenney Email: [email protected] Phone: (617) 495-8496 Date: Nov. 1, 2018

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

The U.S. economy slowed down in the first three months of 2024, report shows

Scott Horsley

The U.S. economy grew more slowly than expected in the first three months of the year. But consumers are still spending money — especially on services such as travel and restaurant meals.

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

But first, the U.S. economy downshifted the first three months of this year. The government report out today shows the economy grew less than half as fast in the first quarter as it did during the previous three months. The news triggered a sell-off in the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 375 points. NPR's Scott Horsley joins me now. Hey, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Hi - good to be with you.

DETROW: So investors were not happy about the slowdown. How big of a concern is this?

HORSLEY: Today's report shows the economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.6% in the first quarter. That is a marked downshift from the previous quarter, when we grew at nearly 3.5%. But, you know, that headline figure may overstate just how hard we hit the brakes. Some of the drop-off came from one-time factors, which really don't tell us much about the underlying economy.

If you zoom in on consumer spending, which is the biggest driver of economic growth, that actually held up pretty well. Americans did spend less on big-ticket items like cars and furniture in the first three months of the year. Those things are often financed, so high interest rates are likely taking a toll. But economist Shannon Grein of Wells Fargo notes people continue to ramp up their spending on services like restaurant meals and travel.

SHANNON GREIN: I think the overall report was still consistent with an economy that's pretty much firing on all cylinders.

HORSLEY: Indeed, services spending rose at an annual rate of 4% in the first quarter, which is fast enough to keep the economy chugging along and potentially fast enough to put some upward pressure on inflation. In fact, today's report shows a key measure of inflation ticked up in the first quarter, so that's something the Federal Reserve is going to be keeping a close eye on.

DETROW: And, of course, they've been keeping interest rates high. How are people paying for all of this spending?

HORSLEY: You know, some people are relying on credit to finance their spending, which is costly if you don't pay off that balance every month. But a lot of this spending is being bankrolled by people's paychecks. You know, we still got a very strong labor market. Lots of people are working. Wages are going up. And most people are not saving a lot of what they earn, so that money's going right back out the door as spending.Today's report also shows business investment held up pretty well in the first quarter, and there was a surprisingly big jump in housing investment.

DETROW: Yeah. That was interesting, especially since, as we've been saying throughout the conversation, mortgage rates are still pretty high. What's going on there?

HORSLEY: Yeah. Those high mortgage rates are definitely dragging down the housing market. Sales of existing homes are down, and there aren't a lot of older homes on the market, but that's giving an unexpected boost to new home construction. Investment in new homes was way up in the first quarter. Shawn Woods is a home builder in Kansas City. He says about 1 out of 3 homes sold in that area is now newly built.

SHAWN WOODS: The inventory that people can find for a new home is new construction, which is great for us as homebuilders, helping out our sales a lot. March and April have been really good months. We're looking for continued good momentum through the spring.

HORSLEY: Woods and other home builders have also been downsizing some of their homes, maybe cutting back on some of the luxury finishes in order to craft a product that home buyers can afford.

WOODS: Before the pandemic, there's no way we could get under really 325,000, and we have reengineered some of our plans, taken different specifications and things like that. And we're bringing new homes to the market now in the 286 to 290 range, starting price. So that's helped immensely.

HORSLEY: That's especially important now that mortgage rates are up above 7%.

DETROW: That's NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thanks so much.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

US inflation increases moderately; consumer spending boosts Q2 outlook

• Medium Text
• March PCE price index increases 0.3%
• PCE inflation rises 2.7% on year-on-year basis
• Core PCE price index gains 0.3%; up 2.8% year-on-year

SERVICES INFLATION HOT

Sign up here.

Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. New Tab , opens new tab

Markets Chevron

Take Five: Fed straight ahead

A U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and Apple and Amazon reporting results will keep investors' focus in the days ahead on the global rates outlook and on tech earnings, while growth and inflation data from Europe and China are also coming out.

An official website of the United States government

Personal Income and Outlays, March 2024

• News Release
• Related Materials
• Additional Information

Personal income increased $122.0 billion (0.5 percent at a monthly rate) in March, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (tables 2 and 3). Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $104.0 billion (0.5 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $160.9 billion (0.8 percent).

The PCE price index increased 0.3 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent (table 5). Real DPI increased 0.2 percent in March and real PCE increased 0.5 percent; goods increased 1.1 percent and services increased 0.2 percent (tables 3 and 4).

The increase in current-dollar personal income in March primarily reflected an increase in compensation (table 2).

The $160.9 billion increase in current-dollar PCE in March reflected an increase of $80.6 billion in spending for services and a $80.3 billion increase in spending for goods (table 2). Within services, the largest contributors to the increase were health care (both outpatient and hospital services) and housing and utilities (led by housing). Within goods, the largest contributors to the increase were gasoline and other energy goods (led by motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, and fluids), other nondurable goods (led by recreational items), and food and beverages. Detailed information on monthly PCE spending can be found on Table 2.4.5U .

Personal outlays —the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $172.1 billion in March (table 2). Personal saving was $671.0 billion in March and the personal saving rate —personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.2 percent (table 1).

From the preceding month, the PCE price index for March increased 0.3 percent (table 5). Prices for services increased 0.4 percent and prices for goods increased 0.1 percent. Food prices decreased less than 0.1 percent and energy prices increased 1.2 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent. Detailed monthly PCE price indexes can be found on Table 2.4.4U .

From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index for March increased 2.7 percent (table 7). Prices for services increased 4.0 percent and prices for goods increased 0.1 percent. Food prices increased 1.5 percent and energy prices increased 2.6 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 2.8 percent from one year ago.

The 0.5 percent increase in real PCE in March reflected an increase of 1.1 percent in spending on goods and an increase of 0.2 percent in spending on services (table 4). Within goods, the largest contributors to the increase were gasoline and other energy goods (led by motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, and fluids), other nondurable goods (led by recreational items), and food and beverages. Within services, the largest contributor to the increase was health care (both outpatient and hospital services). Detailed information on monthly real PCE spending can be found on Table 2.4.6U .

Updates to Personal Income and Outlays

Estimates have been updated for January and February. Revised and previously published changes from the preceding month for current-dollar personal income, and for current-dollar and chained (2017) dollar DPI and PCE, are provided below for January and February.

*          *          *

Next release: May 31, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. EDT Personal Income and Outlays, April 2024

Full Release & Tables (PDF)

Tables only (excel), release highlights (pdf), historical comparisons (pdf).

• Personal Income Lisa Mataloni  301-278-9083 [email protected]
• PCE Goods Kyle Brown 301-278-9086 [email protected]
• PCE Services Harvey Davis (301) 278-9719 [email protected]
• Media (BEA) Connie O'Connell 301-278-9003 [email protected]

Additional Resources available at www.bea.gov :

• Stay informed about BEA developments by reading The BEA Wire , signing up for BEA's email subscription service , or following BEA on X, formerly known as Twitter @BEA_News .
• Historical time series for these estimates can be accessed in BEA's Interactive Data Application .
• Access BEA data by registering for BEA's Data Application Programming Interface (API).
• For more on BEA's statistics, see BEA's online journal, the Survey of Current Business .
• BEA's news release schedule
• NIPA Handbook : Concepts and Methods of the U.S. National Income and Product Accounts

Definitions

Personal income is the income received by, or on behalf of, all persons from all sources: from participation as laborers in production, from owning a home or business, from the ownership of financial assets, and from government and business in the form of transfers. It includes income from domestic sources as well as the rest of world. It does not include realized or unrealized capital gains or losses.

Disposable personal income  is the income available to persons for spending or saving. It is equal to personal income less personal current taxes. 

Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) is the value of the goods and services purchased by, or on the behalf of, "persons" who reside in the United States.

Personal outlays is the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments.

Personal saving is personal income less personal outlays and personal current taxes.

The personal saving rate is personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income.

Current-dollar estimates are valued in the prices of the period when the transactions occurred—that is, at "market value." Also referred to as "nominal estimates" or as "current-price estimates."

Real values are inflation-adjusted estimates—that is, estimates that exclude the effects of price changes.

For more definitions, refer to the Glossary: National Income and Product Accounts .

Statistical conventions

Annual rates. Monthly and quarterly values are expressed at seasonally-adjusted annual rates (SAAR). Dollar changes are calculated as the difference between these SAAR values. For detail, refer to the FAQ " Why does BEA publish estimates at annual rates? "

Month-to-month percent changes are calculated from unrounded data and are not annualized.

Quarter-to-quarter percent changes are calculated from unrounded data and are displayed at annual rates. For detail, refer to the FAQ " How is average annual growth calculated? " and " Why does BEA publish percent changes in quarterly series at annual rates? "

Quantities and prices. Quantities, or "real" volume measures, and prices are expressed as index numbers with a specified reference year equal to 100 (currently 2017). Quantity and price indexes are calculated using a Fisherchained weighted formula that incorporates weights from two adjacent periods (months for monthly data, quarters for quarterly data and annuals for annual data). For details on the calculation of quantity and price indexes, refer to Chapter 4: Estimating Methods in the NIPA Handbook.

Chained-dollar values are calculated by multiplying the quantity index by the current dollar value in the reference year (2017) and then dividing by 100. Percent changes calculated from real quantity indexes and chained-dollar levels are conceptually the same; any differences are due to rounding. Chained-dollar values are not additive because the relative weights for a given period differ from those of the reference year. In tables that display chained-dollar values, a "residual" line shows the difference between the sum of detailed chained-dollar series and its corresponding aggregate.

U.S. tourist faces 12 years in prison after taking ammunition to Turks and Caicos

An Oklahoma man faces up to 12 years in prison on a Caribbean island after customs officials found ammunition in his luggage.

Ryan Watson traveled to Turks and Caicos with his wife, Valerie, to celebrate his 40th birthday on April 7. They went with two friends who had also turned 40.

The vacation came to an abrupt end when airport staff members found a zip-close bag containing bullets in the couple's carry-on luggage. Watson said it was hunting ammunition he had accidentally brought with him — but under a strict law in Turks and Caicos, a court may still impose a mandatory 12-year sentence.

"They were hunting ammunition rounds that I use for whitetail deer," Watson told NBC Boston in an interview conducted last week that aired after their first court appearance Tuesday.

"I recognized them, and I thought, 'Oh, man, what a bonehead mistake that I had no idea that those were in there,'" he said.

The couple were arrested and charged with possession of ammunition. Authorities seized their passports and explained the penalties they faced.

Valerie Watson said in the interview: "When I heard that, I immediately was terrified, because I was like we can't both be in prison for 12 years. We have kids at home, and this is such an innocent mistake."

The charges against her were dropped, and she returned home to Oklahoma City on Tuesday after the court hearing to be reunited with her two young children.

"Our goal is to get Ryan home, because we can’t be a family without Dad," she said.

The couple also spoke about the financial burden of a much longer-than-planned trip. "This is something that we may never recover from," Ryan Watson said.

The U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas issued a warning to travelers in September about a law that strongly prohibits possession of firearms or ammunition in Turks and Caicos, an overseas British territory southeast of the Bahamas that is a popular vacation spot.

It said: "We wish to remind all travelers that declaring a weapon in your luggage with an airline carrier does not grant permission to bring the weapon into TCI [Turks and Caicos Islands] and will result in your arrest."

The embassy added: "If you bring a firearm or ammunition into TCI, we will not be able to secure your release from custody."

The embassy and the government in Turks and Caicos did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The same thing happened to another American, Bryan Hagerich, of Pennsylvania, who was arrested after ammunition was found in his luggage before he tried to board a flight out of Turks and Caicos in February. He said he accidentally left it in his bag.

Hagerich was on a family vacation with his wife and two young children but has now been in the country for 70 days. He spent eight days in prison before he posted bail.

"It’s incredibly scary. You know, you just don’t know what the next day may bring — you know, what path this may take," Hagerich told NBC Boston.

"You know, it’s certainly a lot different than packing your bags and going away with your family for a few days. It’s been the worst 70 days of my life," he said.

Hagerich, once a professional baseball player, was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the MLB 2007 June amateur draft from the University of Delaware.

His case goes to trial May 3.

Patrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Tourism contribution to GDP in the U.S. 2019-2022

Total contribution of travel and tourism to the gross domestic product (gdp) in the united states in 2019 and 2022 (in trillion u.s. dollars).

Additional Information

Show sources information Show publisher information Use Ask Statista Research Service

United States

2019 and 2022

Figures have been rounded.

Other statistics on the topic Travel and tourism in the U.S.

Accommodation

ADR of hotels in the U.S. 2001-2022

Parks & Outdoors

Most visited amusement and theme parks worldwide 2019-2022

Occupancy rate of the U.S. hotel industry 2001-2022

Most visited states in the U.S. 2022

• Immediate access to statistics, forecasts & reports
• Usage and publication rights
• Download in various formats

You only have access to basic statistics.

• Instant access  to 1m statistics
• Download  in XLS, PDF & PNG format
• Detailed  references

Business Solutions including all features.

Other statistics that may interest you

• Tourism GDP in the Balearics 2016-2021
• Tourism share of GDP in the Canary Islands 2010-2021
• Total tourism contribution to GDP in Iceland 2019-2021
• Travel and tourism: share of global GDP 2019-2033
• Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Europe 2019-2022
• Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Ireland 2019-2022
• Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Greece 2019-2022
• Distribution of travel and tourism expenditure in Greece 2019-2022, by tourist type
• Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in the UK 2019-2022
• Leading global travel markets by travel and tourism contribution to GDP 2019-2022
• Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the U.S. 2013-2017, by type
• Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the U.S. 2013-2017, by travel type
• Share of travel and tourism spending in the U.S. 2019-2022, by spending type
• Forecast travel expenditures in the U.S. 2023-2026
• Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the U.S. 2013-2017, by visitor origin
• Daily national park visitor spending in the U.S. 2010-2022, by category
• Visitor travel spending in the U.S. in 2021, by country of origin
• International overnight visitors to New York 2010-2018
• Contribution of travel and tourism to employment in the U.S. 2013-2017, by type
• Market share of outbound visits to the US from the GCC 2011-2021
• Revenue share from tourism in India 2013-2022, by segment
• Countries with the highest outbound tourism expenditure worldwide 2019-2022
• Leading countries in the MEA in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2018
• Countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide 2019-2022
• Change in number of visitors from Mexico to the U.S. 2018-2024
• International tourist arrivals in Europe 2006-2023
• Annual revenue of China Tourism Group Duty Free 2013-2023
• Foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India 2000-2022
• Number of international tourist arrivals in India 2010-2021
• Distribution of travel and tourism spending in Ireland 2019-2022, by tourist type
• Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Germany 2019-2022
• Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Turkey 2019-2023
• Tourism GDP in the Canary Islands 2015-2021
• Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP Egypt 2017, by type
• Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Italy 2019-2022
• International transactions in Canada related to educational travel 2007-2022
• Travel & tourism to GDP impact in South Korea 2017, by type
• Distribution of travel and tourism expenditure in Malta 2019-2022, by tourist type
• Distribution of travel and tourism expenditure in Europe 2019-2022, by tourist type
• International transactions in Canada related to personal travel 2008-2022
• Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Canada 2019-2022
• Domestic tourism expenditure in Canada 2000-2020
• International transactions in Canada related to travel 2002-2022
• Total tourism spend on travel agency services in Canada 2000-2019
• Tourism expenditure in Canada 2000-2019, by commodity
• Domestic tourism expenditure in Canada 2000-2019, by commodity
• Tourism expenditure in Canada 2000-2019
• Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Canada 2016-2017, by type
• Contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Canada 2019-2022

Other statistics that may interest you Statistics on

About the industry

• Premium Statistic Tourism GDP in the Balearics 2016-2021
• Premium Statistic Tourism share of GDP in the Canary Islands 2010-2021
• Basic Statistic Total tourism contribution to GDP in Iceland 2019-2021
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism: share of global GDP 2019-2033
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Europe 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Ireland 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Greece 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Distribution of travel and tourism expenditure in Greece 2019-2022, by tourist type
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in the UK 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Leading global travel markets by travel and tourism contribution to GDP 2019-2022

About the region

• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the U.S. 2013-2017, by type
• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the U.S. 2013-2017, by travel type
• Basic Statistic Share of travel and tourism spending in the U.S. 2019-2022, by spending type
• Premium Statistic Forecast travel expenditures in the U.S. 2023-2026
• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the U.S. 2013-2017, by visitor origin
• Premium Statistic Daily national park visitor spending in the U.S. 2010-2022, by category
• Premium Statistic Visitor travel spending in the U.S. in 2021, by country of origin
• Premium Statistic International overnight visitors to New York 2010-2018
• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to employment in the U.S. 2013-2017, by type
• Premium Statistic Market share of outbound visits to the US from the GCC 2011-2021

Selected statistics

• Basic Statistic Revenue share from tourism in India 2013-2022, by segment
• Premium Statistic Countries with the highest outbound tourism expenditure worldwide 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic Leading countries in the MEA in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2018
• Premium Statistic Countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic Change in number of visitors from Mexico to the U.S. 2018-2024
• Premium Statistic International tourist arrivals in Europe 2006-2023
• Premium Statistic Annual revenue of China Tourism Group Duty Free 2013-2023
• Basic Statistic Foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India 2000-2022
• Basic Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals in India 2010-2021

Other regions

• Basic Statistic Distribution of travel and tourism spending in Ireland 2019-2022, by tourist type
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Germany 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Turkey 2019-2023
• Premium Statistic Tourism GDP in the Canary Islands 2015-2021
• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP Egypt 2017, by type
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Italy 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic International transactions in Canada related to educational travel 2007-2022
• Basic Statistic Travel & tourism to GDP impact in South Korea 2017, by type
• Basic Statistic Distribution of travel and tourism expenditure in Malta 2019-2022, by tourist type
• Basic Statistic Distribution of travel and tourism expenditure in Europe 2019-2022, by tourist type

Related statistics

• Premium Statistic International transactions in Canada related to personal travel 2008-2022
• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Canada 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic Domestic tourism expenditure in Canada 2000-2020
• Premium Statistic International transactions in Canada related to travel 2002-2022
• Premium Statistic Total tourism spend on travel agency services in Canada 2000-2019
• Premium Statistic Tourism expenditure in Canada 2000-2019, by commodity
• Premium Statistic Domestic tourism expenditure in Canada 2000-2019, by commodity
• Premium Statistic Tourism expenditure in Canada 2000-2019
• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Canada 2016-2017, by type
• Basic Statistic Contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Canada 2019-2022

Further related statistics

• Basic Statistic Contribution of China's travel and tourism industry to GDP 2014-2023
• Premium Statistic National park visitor spending in the U.S. 2012-2022, by trip type
• Premium Statistic Music tourist spending at concerts and festivals in the United Kingdom (UK) 2012-2016
• Basic Statistic Growth of inbound spending in the U.S. using foreign visa credit cards
• Premium Statistic Economic contribution of national park visitor spending in the U.S. 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals APAC 2019, by country or region
• Premium Statistic Middle Eastern countries with the largest international tourism receipts 2018
• Premium Statistic Camping expenditures for food, beverages and entertainment in North America 2014
• Premium Statistic Passenger traffic at Dubai Airports from 2010 to 2020*
• Basic Statistic Importance of BRICS countries to UK tourism businesses 2011

Further Content: You might find this interesting as well

• Contribution of China's travel and tourism industry to GDP 2014-2023
• National park visitor spending in the U.S. 2012-2022, by trip type
• Music tourist spending at concerts and festivals in the United Kingdom (UK) 2012-2016
• Growth of inbound spending in the U.S. using foreign visa credit cards
• Economic contribution of national park visitor spending in the U.S. 2012-2022
• Number of international tourist arrivals APAC 2019, by country or region
• Middle Eastern countries with the largest international tourism receipts 2018
• Camping expenditures for food, beverages and entertainment in North America 2014
• Passenger traffic at Dubai Airports from 2010 to 2020*
• Importance of BRICS countries to UK tourism businesses 2011

International tourism, receipts (current US$)

All Countries and Economies

Country Most Recent Year Most Recent Value ( Thousands )

• Privacy Notice
• Access to Information

This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser. To learn more about cookies, click here.

We've detected unusual activity from your computer network

To continue, please click the box below to let us know you're not a robot.

Why did this happen?

Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy .

For inquiries related to this message please contact our support team and provide the reference ID below.