National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) | July 15, 2022

Data recently released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) show that in May 2022:

  • International visitors spent $12.6 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States, an increase of nearly 105 percent compared to May 2021.
  • Americans spent $12.4 billion traveling abroad, yielding a balance of trade surplus of $245 million for the month—the seventh consecutive month during which the United States enjoyed a balance of trade surplus for travel and tourism.
  • Year to date (January through May 2022), international visitors have spent $55.5 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services (up nearly 107% when compared to the same period last year), injecting, on average, $367.5 million a day into the U.S. economy.
  • Year to date (January through May 2022), while other U.S. exports of goods and services were +20% compared to the first five months of pre-pandemic 2019, travel exports were -45%.

Composition of Monthly Spending (Travel Exports)

  • Travel Receipts 
    • Purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the United States totaled $6.7 billion in May 2022 (compared to $2.1 billion in May 2021), an increase of 223 percent when compared to the previous year.
    • For a pre-pandemic perspective, travel receipts totaled $12.1 billion in May 2019. These goods and services include food, lodging, recreation, gifts, entertainment, local transportation in the United States, and other items incidental to international travel.
    • Travel receipts accounted for 53 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in May 2022.
  • Passenger Fare Receipts
    • Fares received by U.S. carriers from international visitors totaled nearly $2.0 billion in May 2022 (compared to $898 million in May 2021), an increase of 122 percent when compared to the previous year.
    • For a pre-pandemic perspective, the United States exported more than $3.3 billion in passenger air transportation services in May 2019. These receipts are expenditures by foreign residents on international flights of U.S. air carriers.
    • Passenger fare receipts accounted for 16 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in May 2022.
  • 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 $4.0 billion in May 2022 (compared to $3.2 billion in May 2021), an increase of 24 percent when compared to the previous year.
    • For a pre-pandemic perspective, this spending totaled $5.0 billion in May 2019.
    • Medical tourism, education, and short-term worker expenditures accounted for 31 percent of total U.S. travel and tourism exports in May 2022.

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