WASHINGTON - The National Travel and Tourism Office today announced that international visitors spent $21.0 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States in March. Year-to-date tourism exports totaled a record-setting $63.0 billion for the first three months of 2017, an increase of more than 2 percent ($1.5 billion) when compared to the same period in 2016.
Monthly Summary
- Travel Receipts: Purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the United States totaled $13 billion during March, an increase of one percent when compared to March 2016. 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 62 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in March.
- Passenger Fare Receipts: Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.4 billion for the month, down roughly one percent when compared to March 2016.Passenger fare receipts accounted for 16 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in March.
- Medical/Education/Short-Term Workers: Expenditures for educational and health-related tourism, along with all expenditures by border, seasonal, and other short-term workers, totaled more than $4.7 billion in March, an appreciable increase of nearly 10 percent when compared to the same period in the previous year. Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker receipts accounted for 22 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in March.
