National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) | October 10, 2023

Data recently released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) show that in August 2023:

  • International visitors spent $19.0 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States, an increase of nearly 29 percent compared to August 2022 and the highest level of monthly spending since the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020.
  • Conversely, Americans spent more than $17.2 billion traveling abroad during August, yielding a balance of trade surplus of nearly $1.8 billion and the fifth consecutive month during which the United States enjoyed a balance of trade surplus for travel and tourism-related goods and services.
  • International visitors have spent more than $137.7 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services year-to-date (YTD) (January through August 2023), an increase of more than 33 percent when compared 2022; international visitors have injected, on average, nearly than $567 million a day into the U.S. economy YTD.
  • Travel and tourism accounted for 7.4% of U.S. exports of goods and services in August 2023, up from 6.4 percent six months earlier in February 2023 and 5.7% twelve months earlier in August 2022.

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 $10.6 billion during August 2023 (compared to $7.9 billion in August 2022), an increase of nearly 35 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 56 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in August 2023.
  • Passenger Fare Receipts
    • Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.4 billion in August 2023 (compared to $2.6 billion in the previous year), up 29 percent when compared to August 2022. 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 August 2023.
  • 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 $5.0 billion in August 2023 (compared to $4.3 billion in August 2022), an increase of 17 percent when compared to the previous year.
    • Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker expenditures accounted for 26 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in August 2023.

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