U.S.travel and tourism industry supported 7.6 million jobs in 2013

WASHINGTON – Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Stefan M. Selig announced that total U.S. travel and tourism-related employment increased to 7.6 million jobs in 2013, up 146,000 jobs from 2012.

New data also shows that U.S. travel and tourism industry-related spending increased by 4.1 percent in 2013 from the previous year, totaling nearly $1.5 trillion.

“The data reiterates the critical role of the travel and tourism industry to the U.S. economy and the jobs it supports in communities across our nation,” Selig stated. “It is our nation’s leading services export, and the sector’s $78 billion trade surplus in 2013 was its largest ever. The industry’s continued growth brings us closer to achieving President Obama’s National Travel and Tourism Strategy goal of attracting 100 million international visitors annually by the end of 2021.”

The United States leads the world in travel and tourism exports, with the sector’s exports more than doubling since 2003. Travel and tourism exports account for nearly one-third (31 percent) of all U.S. services exports, and more than 9 percent of total U.S. exports – goods and services.

The United States welcomed a record-setting 70 million international visitors to the United States in 2013 – a five percent increase from 2012 – and spent a record $214.8 billion. International visitors injected nearly $590 million each day during their travels to the United States last year.

In 2012, President Obama launched the National Travel and Tourism Strategy, which set a goal of drawing 100 million international visitors by 2021. The strategy is expected to generate $250 billion in visitor spending annually by that same date.

Spending and employment information is part of the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts (TTSA).Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts form an indispensable statistical instrument that allows the United States to measure the relative size and importance of the travel and tourism industry, along with its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). Approved by the United Nations in March 2002 and endorsed by the U.N. Statistical Commission, TTSAs have become the international standard by which travel and tourism is measured.

More than fifty countries around the world have embraced travel and tourism satellite accounting. The NTTO provides the funds for BEA to develop quarterly and annual TTSA estimates.

Additional information on the NTTO’s website at: http://travel.trade.gov/research/programs/satellite/index.html

Aug. 31 2014