National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) | December 07, 2023

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

  • International visitors spent $18.9 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States, an increase of 23 percent compared to October 2022 and the highest level of monthly spending since December 2019 (before the onset of reported COVID-19 cases). In fact, monthly U.S. travel and tourism exports are within $1.9 billion of their highwater mark set back in March 2018 when international visitors spent an appreciable $20.8 billion experiencing the United States.
  • Conversely, Americans spent a record-setting $18.4 billion traveling abroad during October, yielding a balance of trade surplus of $503 million and the fourth consecutive month during which the United States enjoyed a balance of trade surplus for travel and tourism-related goods and services. The United States has, however, run trade deficits for travel and tourism in six of the last ten months reported in 2023.
  • International visitors have spent nearly $173.9 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services year to date (January through October 2023), an increase of nearly 30 percent when compared 2022; international visitors have injected, on average, nearly $572 million a day into the U.S. economy year to date.
  • U.S. Travel and tourism exports accounted for 22.3 percent of U.S. services exports in October 2023 and 7.3 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 $10.7 billion during October 2023 (compared to $8.5 billion in October 2022), an increase of 26 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 October 2023.
  • Passenger Fare Receipts
    • Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.3 billion in October 2023 (compared to $2.6 billion in the previous year), up nearly 28 percent when compared to October 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 October 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 $4.9 billion in October 2023 (compared to $4.3 billion in October 2022), an increase of 14 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 October 2023.

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