International Visitors Spent Nearly $20.1 Billion Traveling Within the United States in March

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

• International visitors spent nearly $20.1 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States, an increase of more than 22 percent compared to March 2023 and very close to surpassing pre-COVID levels of monthly spending realized in 2019.
• Conversely, Americans spent nearly $20.7 billion traveling abroad during March, the thirty-sixth (36) consecutive month of growth, yielding a balance of trade deficit of $591 million for travel and tourism-related goods and services.
• International visitors have spent nearly $60.0 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services year to date (January through March 2024), an increase of more than 23 percent when compared 2023; international visitors have injected, on average, nearly $667 million a day into the U.S. economy year to date.
• U.S. Travel and tourism exports accounted for 23.3 percent of U.S. services exports during March 2024 and 7.8 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 $11.6 billion during March 2024 (compared to $8.9 billion in March 2023), an increase of 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 March 2024.
• Passenger Fare Receipts
  • Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.5 billion in March 2024 (compared to $3.2 billion in the previous year), up 10 percent when compared to March 2023. These receipts represent expenditures by foreign residents on international flights provided by U.S. air carriers.
  • Passenger fare receipts accounted for 17 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports during March.
•  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 March 2024 (compared to $4.4 billion in March 2023), an increase of 13 percent when compared to the previous year.
  • Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker expenditures accounted for 25 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in March 2024.

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