National Travel and Tourism Office | April 26, 2024

Data recently released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) show that in February 2024:

  • International visitors spent more during the month of February 2024 than during any other February recorded since the United States started measuring these exports in 1960; indeed, international visitors spent a record-setting $20.4 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States during February, an increase of more than 25 percent compared to February 2023 and the highest level of monthly spending for any February recorded. In fact, monthly U.S. travel and tourism exports are within $436 million of their highwater mark set back in March 2018 when international visitors spent an appreciable $20.8 billion experiencing the United States. The United States expects to surpass that record later this year.
  • Conversely, Americans spent a record-setting $21.1 billion traveling abroad during February, yielding a balance of trade deficit of $732 million for the month that breaks a seven-month streak of surpluses in travel and tourism-related trade (exports minus imports).
  • U.S. Travel and tourism exports accounted for 23.6 percent of U.S. services exports during February 2024 and 7.7 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 $11.9 billion during February 2024 (compared to $9.0 billion in February 2023), an increase of more than 31 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 58 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in February 2024.
  • Passenger Fare Receipts
    • Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.6 billion in February 2024 (compared to $2.9 billion in the previous year), up 27 percent when compared to February 2023. These receipts represent expenditures by foreign residents on international flights provided by U.S. air carriers.
    • Passenger fare receipts accounted for 18 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in February 2024.
  •  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 $4.9 billion in February 2024 (compared to $4.4 billion in February 2023), an increase of 12 percent when compared to the previous year.
    • Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker expenditures accounted for 24 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in February 2024.

Interested in an interactive data visualization of these statistics? Please visit our Monthly Travel Trade Monitor for a more comprehensive and customizable experience.