According to the latest data recently released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), foreign visitors spent $18.9 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States in October 2023 – an increase of 23% compared to October 2022 and the highest level of monthly spending since December 2019 (before the onset of reported COVID-19 cases).
Actually, monthly US travel and tourism exports are within $1.9 billion of their high water mark set back in March 2018 when international visitors spent an appreciable $20.8 billion experiencing the United States.
Conversely, Americans spent a record-setting $18.4 billion traveling abroad during October, yielding a balance of trade surplus of $503 million and the fourth consecutive month during which the United States enjoyed a balance of trade surplus for travel and tourism-related goods and services. The United States has, however, run trade deficits for travel and tourism in six of the last ten months reported in 2023.
International visitors have spent nearly $173.9 billion on US travel and tourism-related goods and services year to date (January through October 2023), an increase of nearly 30 percent when compared 2022; international visitors have injected, on average, nearly $572 million a day into the US economy year to date.
US Travel and tourism exports accounted for 22.3 percent of US services exports in October 2023 and 7.3 percent of all US exports, goods and services alike.
Composition of Monthly Spending (Travel Exports)
• Travel Spending
Purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the United States totaled $10.7 billion during October 2023 (compared to $8.5 billion in October 2022), an increase of 26 percent when compared to the previous 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 57 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in October 2023.
• Passenger Fare Receipts
Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.3 billion in October 2023 (compared to $2.6 billion in the previous year), up nearly 28 percent when compared to October 2022. These receipts represent expenditures by foreign residents on international flights provided by U.S. air carriers.
Passenger fare receipts accounted for 18 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in October 2023.
• Medical/Education/Short-Term Worker Spending
