Data recently released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) show that in May 2024:
- International visitors spent a record-setting $21.6 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States during the month of May, an increase of more than 16 percent compared to May 2023 and surpassing pre-COVID records set in March 2018; in fact, monthly U.S. travel and tourism exports have never been higher.
- Conversely, Americans spent nearly $20.5 billion traveling abroad during May, yielding a balance of trade surplus of more than $1.1 billion for travel and tourism-related goods and services.
- International visitors have spent nearly $104.9 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services year to date (January through May 2024), an increase of more than 17 percent when compared 2023; international visitors have injected, on average, nearly $695 million a day into the U.S. economy year to date.
- U.S. travel and tourism exports accounted for 23.4 percent of U.S. services exports during May 2024 and 8.2 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 $12.1 billion during May 2024 (compared to $10.1 billion in May 2023), an increase of 19 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 May 2024.
- Passenger Fare Receipts
- Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.5 billion in May 2024 (compared to $3.1 billion in the previous year), up 13 percent when compared to May 2023. These receipts represent expenditures by foreign residents on international flights provided by U.S. air carriers.
- Passenger fare receipts accounted for 16 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports during May.
- 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 $5.9 billion in May 2024 (compared to $5.3 billion in May 2023), an increase of 12 percent when compared to the previous year.
- Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker expenditures accounted for 28 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in May 2024.
Interested in an interactive data visualization of these statistics? Please visit our Monthly Travel Trade Monitor for a more comprehensive and customizable experience.
NTTO is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating international travel and tourism statistics for the U.S. Travel and Tourism Statistical System. For more monthly travel and tourism-related trade data dating back to 1999, please visit the International Travel Receipts and Payments Program.
Keep up-to-date on the travel and tourism industry by visiting and subscribing to TI News.
Check out ITA’s new Visual Data Center providing a one-stop-shop where you can find a variety of data analysis at your fingertips. Discover industry insights and trends in an easy-to-understand format that will help simplify complex robust data points to provide valuable insights that can impact your business. You can interact with the data to easily view different patterns and trends or download the data at no cost for further analysis or use.
