Data recently released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) show that in December 2024:
- International visitors spent a record-setting $22.3 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States during the month of December, an increase of nearly 10 percent compared to December 2023.
- Americans spent $22.3 billion (slightly more than international visitors spent in the United States, when rounded) traveling abroad during December, yielding a $7 million balance of trade deficit for travel and tourism-related goods and services.
- International visitors have spent more than $253.9 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services year to date (January through December 2024), an increase of more than 12 percent when compared 2023; international visitors injected, on average, $696 million a day into the U.S. economy last year.
- U.S. travel and tourism exports accounted for 23 percent of U.S. services exports during December 2024 and 8 percent of all U.S. 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 $12.6 billion during December 2024 (compared to $11.4 billion in December 2023), an increase of 11 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 December 2024.
- Passenger Fare Receipts
- Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.3 billion in December 2024 (compared to $3.2 billion in the previous year), up 4 percent when compared to December 2023. These receipts represent expenditures by foreign residents on international flights provided by U.S. air carriers.
- Passenger fare receipts accounted for 15 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports during December.
- Medical/Education/Short-Term Worker Spending
- Expenditures for educational and health-related tourism, along with all expenditures by border, seasonal, and other short-term workers in the United States totaled $6.3 billion in December 2024 (compared to $5.7 billion in December 2023), an increase of more than 10 percent when compared to the previous year.
- Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker expenditures accounted for 28 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in December 2024.
Interested in an interactive data visualization of these statistics? Please visit our Monthly Travel Trade Monitor for a more comprehensive and customizable experience.
