Uptick in foreigners’ US travel spending in 2010 – study

Foreign visitors spent $134.4 billion “experiencing” the US in 2010, or nearly 12 per cent more than the $120.3 billion they spent the year before, the US Department of Commerce said.

Experiencing the US includes fares purchased from US carriers by foreign visitors, which were up by more than 18 per cent year-on-year to $31.3 billion, and purchases made in the US of travel- and tourism-related goods and services, which rose 10 per cent to $103.1 billion.

The biggest increase in foreign visitor spending came from the Chinese, who spent 39 per cent more in the US last year than in 2009.

Visitors from Singapore and South Korea increased their tourism-related spending in the US by 31 per cent and 30 per cent respectively, helping to boost US travel and tourism exports to the Asia/Pacific region by 18 per cent last year, the largest increase for any world region.

Brazilian and Canadian visitors spent around 30 per cent more “experiencing” the United States in 2010 than they did the previous year, and double-digit percentage increases in spending were also seen among Australian, Indian and Japanese visitors to the US, the study says.

“In fact, every single country and region reported gains in total travel- and tourism-related spending in the US in 2010, except France and Belgium/Luxembourg,” the report says, without giving reasons for the decline.

In a report released last week, US travel industry leaders said the US could help to double exports within five years and create 1.3 million new jobs by 2020 by increasing the number of foreign visitors to the country.