The U.S. travel industry is continuing its resurgence, with international visitor spending on track for a record-setting year, according to numbers released by the Commerce Department.
International visitors have spent an estimated $82.2 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services—an increase of 11 percent when compared to the same period last year.
"America's economic recovery is being driven largely by the travel industry," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "Each international visitor we welcome to the U.S. helps to support local communities and small businesses across our country. This is a tremendous opportunity; more can be done, and our industry stands ready to continue to encourage growth in international travel to the U.S."
Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank said tourism is the top services export in the U.S. economy.
"This recent travel data indicates that the second quarter of 2012 set a new record for travel and tourism exports," she said. "Tourism is a bright spot in our economy and is our number one services export. It supports millions of American jobs and the Obama administration remains committed to doing everything possible to help make the United States the top destination for international visitors. An important part of that is implementing the National Travel and Tourism Strategy, which aims to attract more than 100 million international visitors annually by 2021, generating more than $250 billion annually in revenue."