U.S.

TRAVEL ANSWER SHEET

FACTS ABOUT A LEADING AMERICAN INDUSTRY THAT’S MORE THAN JUST FUN

LEISURE TRAVEL BY THE NUMBERS

U.S. Travel Industry Direct Impact (all data 2009)
■ Direct spending on leisure travel by
DOMESTIC = $610.2 B
domestic and international travelers SPENDING $704.4 BILLION IN SPENDING INTERNATIONAL = $94.2 B $704.4 billion: Travel
totaled $489.7 billion in 2009. expenditures generated by
Spending on leisure travel generated TAXES $113 BILLION IN TAXES
■
domestic and international
$77.3 billion in tax revenue.
JOBS 7.4 MILLION JOBS visitors (excludes international
3 out of 4 domestic trips taken
■
are for leisure purposes (77%).
passenger fares)
■ U.S. residents logged 1.5 billion
person-trips* for leisure purposes BUSINESS TRAVEL LEISURE TRAVEL 7.4 million: Jobs directly
in 2009. SPENDING $214.7 B $489.7 B generated by travel expenditures
■ Top leisure travel activities for U.S.
$34.6 B
+ $78.4 B
domestic travelers: (1) visiting relatives; TAXES
$186.3 billion: Wages
(2) shopping; (3) visiting friends; shared by American workers
JOBS 2.1 million jobs 5.3 million jobs
(4) rural sightseeing; and (5) beaches.
directly employed by travel

BUSINESS TRAVEL General Meetings, $113 billion: Tax revenue

Business Travel Events &
Incentive Travel
Each U.S. household generated by travel spending
(Including Meetings, Events and Incentive)
would pay $950 more for federal, state and
SPENDING $129.9”B $84.7”B
■ Direct spending on business travel by
domestic and international travelers,
+ in taxes without the local governments
including expenditures on meetings,
TAXES $20.8 B $13.7 B tax revenue generated
events and incentive programs (ME&I), JOBS 1.3 million 846,000 by travel and tourism. 2.7%: Percentage of nation’s
jobs jobs
totaled $214.7 billion in 2009. gross domestic product (GDP)
■ ME&I travel accounted for $84.7 billion
Source: U.S. Travel Association
attributed to travel and tourism
of all business travel spending. = 1 million jobs
Note: Direct spending totals do not include international passenger fares
■ U.S. residents logged 432 million No. 1: Where travel ranks
person-trips* for business purposes
in 2009, with more than one-third SOURCES OF TRAVEL SPENDING
among services export industries
(35%) for meetings and events.
$179.4 B
■ For every dollar invested in business
FOODSERVICES
10.1 million: Jobs directly
LODGING $126.6 B
travel, businesses benefit from an
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION $124.6 B
and indirectly generated by
average of $12.50 in increased
AUTO TRANSPORTATION $113.2 B
travel expenditures
revenue and $3.80 in new profits
(Oxford Economics). RECREATION/AMUSEMENT $82.9 B
RETAIL $77.7 B 1 out of 9: U.S. jobs that
* Person-trip defined as one person on a trip away from home
overnight in paid accommodations or on a day or overnight
depend on travel and tourism
trip to places 50 miles or more [one-way] away from home. TOTAL: $704.4 billion
Source: U.S. Travel Association
No. 5: Where travel ranks
in terms of employment
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL compared to other major
private industry sectors
■ In 2009, international traveler ■ Each overseas traveler spends TOP 5 INTERNATIONAL
spending (export receipts) totaled more than $4,000 when they MARKETS TO USA (ARRIVALS) 99.5%: Percentage of travel
$121.1 billion and travel spending visit the U.S. and stay on average ORIGIN OF VISITOR 2009 industry firms with 500 or
abroad by Americans totaled more than 16 nights. fewer employees
$99.1 billion (travel import payments), Canada 18.0 million
■ Overseas arrivals represent
creating a trade surplus of $22 billion 43% of all international arrivals, Mexico 13.2 million
in favor of the U.S. yet account for 80% of total United Kingdom 3.9 million
1.9 billion: Number of
■ The U.S. received 54.9 million inter- international travel receipts. person-trips* that Americans
Japan 2.9 million
national arrivals in 2009. Of those, ■ Greatest challenges facing took for business and
approximately 23.8 million were from international visitors: Germany 1.7 million leisure purposes
overseas markets and 31.2 million burdensome visa process;
were from Canada and Mexico. unwelcoming entry experience. TOP 5 HIGH-GROWTH MARKETS
■ The United States’ share of total THRU 2015 (forecasted)
54.9 million: Number of
Top leisure travel activities for
international arrivals is 6.2%
■
overseas visitors: (1) shopping;
international arrivals in the U.S.
(down from 7.5% in 2000). (2) dining; (3) city sightseeing; ORIGIN OF VISITOR
ARRIVALS %
CHANGE ’15/’10
in 2009, including 23.8 million
■ International travel spending (4) visiting historical places; and from overseas markets
China 219%
supported about 884,000 U.S. (5) amusement/theme parks.
jobs and wages of $23.5 billion. Brazil 121%
Travel is among the top 10
Korea 101% industries in 48 states and
India 94% D.C. in terms of employment
Direct spending by resident and
Peru 51%
international travelers in the U.S. averaged
$1.9 billion a day, $80 million an hour, Source: U.S. Department of Commerce€–
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries
$1.3 million a minute and $22,300 a second.
The U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $704 billion travel industry. It is the voice for the collective interests
of the U.S. travel industry and the association’s 1,400 member organizations. U.S. Travel’s mission is to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States.
U.S. Travel is proud to be a partner in travel with American Express®. For more information, visit www.USTravel.org or www.PowerofTravel.org.
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Copyright 2010 by the U.S. Travel Association. All Rights Reserved.
(11/2010)