International visitors spent $18 billion in USA in July 2015
Washington -The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that international visitors spent an estimated $18.1 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States during the month of July, an increase of 1 percent when compared to July 2014.
The price of passenger air transportation – declining nearly 10 percent in Q1 2015 – continues to decline as fuel prices fall, ultimately leading to a 13 percent decline in nonresident passenger fare receipts.
“Travel and Tourism remains the number one service export in the U.S.” Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade Stefan M. Selig said. “Today’s numbers show that the United States is still a popular destination for international travelers. Even with the reductions in airfare, international visitor spending has increased when compared to July of 2014. This is good news for our economy and for the jobs the tourism industry supports.”
Purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the United States totaled $11.2 billion during July, an increase of 3 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. Travel receipts accounted for nearly 62 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports during July 2015.
Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.1 billion for the month, a decrease of nearly 13 percent ($463 million) when compared to July 2014. Falling fuel prices have contributed to declining fares. Passenger fare receipts accounted for 17 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports during July.
Expenditures for educational and health-related tourism, along with all expenditures by border, seasonal, and other short-term workers, totaled $3.8 billion in July, an increase of more than 9 percent when compared to the same period last year. Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker receipts accounted for 21 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports during July 2015.
Year-to-date international visitor spending totaled $127.3 billion for the first seven months of 2015, a decrease of 1 percent when compared to the same period last year. Conversely, U.S. resident spending abroad is up nearly 7 percent during the same period (January through July), having spent $89.4 billion on imported travel and tourism-related goods and services, resulting in a $37.9 billion trade surplus for travel and tourism year to date.- trade.gov
Sept 15 , 2015
