NTTO | September 08, 2023

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

  • International visitors spent nearly $18 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States, an increase of nearly 24 percent compared to July 2022 and the highest level of monthly spending since December 2019.
  • Conversely, Americans spent more than $17.2 billion traveling abroad during July, yielding a balance of trade surplus of $777 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.
  • International visitors have spent more than $118.5 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services year-to-date (YTD) (January through July 2023), an increase of nearly 34 percent when compared 2022; international visitors have injected, on average, more than $559 million a day into the U.S. economy YTD.

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 $9.7 billion during July 2023 (compared to $7.7 billion in July 2022), an increase of more than 27 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 54 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in July 2023.
  • Passenger Fare Receipts
    • Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled $3.4 billion in July 2023 (compared to $2.6 billion in the previous year), up 28 percent when compared to July 2022. These receipts represent expenditures by foreign residents on international flights provided by U.S. air carriers.
    • Passenger fare receipts accounted for 19 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in July 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 July 2023 (compared to $4.3 billion in July 2022), an increase of 15 percent when compared to the previous year.
    • Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker expenditures accounted for 27 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in July 2023.

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