International arrivals to the U.S. on the rise

The U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office released data on inbound travel to the United States in 2018, and the information shows that arrivals increased at a higher rate than in 2017 (3.5% vs. 0.7%). Spending also increased in 2018, but at a slightly slower rate than the year before (1.7% vs. 2.1%).

The top six countries that U.S. visitors came from remained the same in 2018 as in 2017: Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Japan, China and South Korea. Brazil moved into the No. 7 spot, switching places with Germany; France remained at No. 9 and India replaced Australia as the No. 10 country of origin in 2018.

Overall international spending in the U.S. (termed an export by the federal government) increased a bit: from $251.4 billion in 2017 to $255.5 billion in 2018. In both years, those numbers represented 10% of all U.S. exports.

China remained the leading country in terms of visitor spending for 2018, with Canada moving into second place by switching places with Mexico. Japan remained the No. 4 country; India and the U.K. changed spots in 2018, with the former assuming the No. 5 position. Countries seven through 10 remained the same: Brazil, South Korea, Australia and Germany.

For more details visit the NTTO site.

Top photo: Josh Sorenson from Pexels

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