August 11, 2021 – Today, the International Trade Administration’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) is pleased to announce the of release the Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT) Inbound Monitor as well as enhanced Inbound Market and Sector Profiles. Both products provide users a spectrum of tools and statistics on international visitation to the United States—data that businesses, communities and government leaders need as our hard-hit travel and tourism industry recovers from COVID-19 and seeks to expand the number of U.S. destinations overseas travelers visit.
The SIAT Inbound Survey Monitor (Monitor) is a new data visualization tool based on the Survey of International Air Travelers which enables users to interactively analyze the characteristics of overseas visitors from world regions or countries to the United States at the national, state and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level. This includes data on passenger trip planning, travel patterns, demographics, and spending and income. The Monitor is updated to include the latest data from 2020, which as anticipated measured a decrease in inbound international visitation by 75.5% from 2019.
Exploring the monitor allows data users to identify some interesting findings about international visitor trends at the national and local scale. For example:
- The median household income of overseas visitors fell from $82,636 in 2019 to $76,585 in 2020.
- Florida’s top inbound market changed from the U.K. in 2019 to Brazil in 2020.
- 53% of overseas visitors who traveled to Wyoming in 2019 also traveled to California.
- 46.5% of French visitors to Chicago used the city subway/tram/bus in 2019.
The SIAT Monitor can be accessed directly by clicking here or by going to the SIAT Program landing page. Later this fall, NTTO will release a companion Monitor on U.S. outbound travel to destinations abroad.
Also launched are the Market and Sector Profiles (Profiles), which incorporate data from as far back as 1997 to more recent 2020 statistics. The Profiles display data on overseas and Mexico-air visitation to the United States for 27 countries, nine world regions, and nine sectors based on the Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT) spending data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. These Profiles incorporate a new methodology that enables NTTO to estimate overseas visitation for up to 87 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), 50 States, 3 U.S. Territories, and 11 U.S. Regions.
The Profiles can be accessed by going to NTTO’s research home page and clicking on the Market and Sector Profiles landing page.
“We are delighted that we are now able to provide these powerful, easy-to-use tools and enable a deeper understanding of international visitors to the United States: who they are, where they’re coming from, where they’re going and what they’re spending their money on,” said Isabel Hill, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism. “This information will inform both private sector understanding of markets, and public sector understanding of policy options, and is another tool to support the competitiveness of the United States as a travel destination.”
Background
The Survey of International Air Travelers is an on-going primary research program which gathers statistical data about air passenger travelers in U.S.-overseas and U.S.-Mexico markets. Survey data provides information on passenger trip planning, travel patterns, demographics, and spending for two separate populations – non-U.S. residents traveling to the United States and U.S. residents traveling from the United States. The Survey has been conducted monthly since January 1983. Survey data, which can be used to analyze specific visitor segments, is a source of information for planners, marketers, and policymakers. For details, including methodology and how this program is differentiated from other surveys, please visit: https://www.trade.gov/
