U.S. Still Top Destination for International Travelers

Wednesday, January 28th, 2008 

The US might be looking outside its borders to revive the stalled tourism industry.  The number of international visitors coming into the US has increased over the past few months.  2008 saw an 8% increase in the number of foreign visitors when compared to 2007.  Why such a rise?  The economy, for one.  Europe has fared slightly better than the US during the recent economic downturn.  The Euro is valued much higher than the US dollar on the international currency exchange market.  Therefore the US has become quite cheap for Europeans.  Arrivals from Western Europe were up nearly 17% when compared to one year ago.  

Arrivals from China also increased – a whopping 28% compared to 2007.  Also up were arrivals from Brazil and Argentina (up 14%).   Even Canadians were taking advantage of the foreign exchange situation, dropping in on their southern neighbor nearly 12% more than a year ago.  

All this is despite complaints about a new US policy which requires Europeans to register online before visiting the US.  The policy drew some fire from continental travelers, but seems to not have dissuaded them from coming.    

All in all, 39 million visitors came to the US in the first three quarters of 2008.  The total revenue estimates generated from these international visitors was US$108.4 billion.  That is an increase of more than 20% compared to the same period of 2007.  

The higher number of international visitors did not help the industry as much as one might think.  Domestic travel has been slow in the US.  High fuel prices kept people off the roads and out of the skies for much of 2008.  The flagging economy meant fewer trips for corporate travelers as well as leisure travelers.  Europe still remains stronger economically, meaning that, in the short term, the high number of international travelers is likely to continue.  

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