Visitors from outside the U.S. down 9 percent, spending a lot less

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Visits from outside the United States continued their slide in August. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that 5.4 million people visited the United States from other countries in August this year. Unfortunately, that’s a drop of 9 percent from August 2008. And, the smaller number of people is spending less money when it comes here. In August 2009, international visitors spent $10 billion. This sounds like a lot, but it’s off almost 21 percent from last year. For the first eight months of this year, spending by foreign visitors reached $79.5 billion, down 17 percent year-over-year. The fact that the year-to-date decline isn’t as bad as what we saw in August suggests that the situation has been worsening.

Trends in visits from Canada and Mexico are consistent with the global trend. Canadian visits fell 6 percent in August and are off 8 percent for the year through August. Meanwhile, visits from Mexico surged in August, gaining 23 percent, with land arrivals up 37 percent and air arrivals down 7 percent. This wasn’t enough to change the situation for the year, however. For the first eight months of 2009, visits from Mexico fell six percent relative to the same period in 2008.

Visits from overseas (not including Mexico and Canada) were off 6 percent in August and 9 percent for the year. Of the top 20 countries sending visitors to the United States, 11 sustained decreases for the month of August, with five of these declines hitting double-digit levels. Along with Mexico, China, Brazil and the Bahamas posted double-digit increases. Year-to-date, 17 of the top 20 countries showed declines in visitation to the United States, eight of them reaching double-digit levels.

Europe certainly isn’t sending as many visitors to the United States as it once did. For August, visits are off 11 percent — the same rate posted for 2009 so far. The United Kingdom‘s visits to the United States were down 13 percent in August, which is disproportionately powerful, given that the United Kingdom accounts for 34 percent of all Western European arrivals in the United States. Through August, visits to the United States from the United Kingdom were off 16 percent, with Germany down 6 percent and France down 3 percent.

The trend is improving in Japan. While visits so far this year were down 16 percent by August, the month of august itself showed an improvement, with visits from Japan down only 8 percent. Japan accounts for nearly half of all Asian visitors to the United States. Year-to-date, visits from South Korea and India fell 11 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

It’s clear that travel to the United States continues to suffer from the effects of the worldwide recession, particularly since, the Department of Commerce says, business travel is falling faster than leisure travel this year.

[Chart courtesy of the U.S. Department of Commerce]

Everyone wants to go to the U.S.: posts highest scores in brand survey

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Step aside, Australia: travelers now prefer the United States. A report by consulting firm FutureBrand shows that the United States’ Country Brand Index topped Australia, which usually has the top spot. The survey collects the thoughts of around 3,000 international business and recreational travelers, measuring how various countries are perceived. The report credits President Obama with driving the increase, since a decent dose of anti-American sentiment around the world put some pressure on the countries performance in the rankings.

The United States ranks best as “ideal for business,” but it lags in many of the 29 other categories. Japan and the United Kingdom score higher for nightlife, and Singapore beats the United States as a shopping destination.

Even with the high score, the Department of Commerce expects visits from abroad to fall 8 percent this year, thanks to an awful global economy.

Interested in seeing the whole top 10 list? Check for it after the jump.

1. United States

2. Canada (hosting the Winter Olympics next year)

3. Australia

4. New Zealand

5. France

6. Italy

7. Japan

8. United Kingdom

9. Germany

10. Spain

[Photo by Diacritical via Flickr]

Foreigners are still spending less in the U.S.

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Visitors from outside the United States came in and spent $9.9 billion in August … which sounds like a lot. Unfortunately, it’s down 21 percent from what they spent in August 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, as the travel slump continues to clamp wallets shut. The good news, though, is that spending by foreign visitors to the United States edged 1 percent higher from July.

Spending by visitors to the United States has fallen every month since 2008, but the really severe declines began in May. Year-over-year drops have been 20 percent or worse every month since then: -23 percent in May, -22 percent in June and July and -21 percent in August.

Most of the money came from “travel receipts,” which the Commerce Department defines as just about everything except the planes, trains, boats and so on that take travelers into and out of the country. This was good for $7.8 billion in August and includes food, lodging, gives and entertainment, among other categories. “Passenger fare receipts,” the travel money, brought $2.1 billion into the U.S. economy in August — off $700 million from the previous August.

So far this year, foreign visitors have poured $79.4 billion into the U.S. travel and tourism industry, which is $16.4 billion less than we saw at this point in 2008 (a decline of 17 percent).

In an unsurprising application of the “golden rule” — screw unto others, as they screw unto you — American travelers haven’t been spending as much abroad, either. Those of us heading out of the country this year have only spent $65.9 billion so far, down 12 percent ($9.3 billion) from last year. The result is a $13.5 billion trade surplus, which is $7.1 billion less favorable than it was at this time last year.

With the next monthly report from the Commerce Department, the numbers should start to change a bit — in fact, they should start to look better. Don’t be deceived by this subtle shift, which will gain momentum next year. After Septmeber, and the worldwide financial crisis, the travel industry was battered. So, as we cross the September threshold, we’ll be comparing current results to lower benchmarks. But, it will be nice to see something that at least looks positive.

Travel from the rest of the world to the U.S. falls … again

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Travel fell again in 2009, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data, as a weak economy put pressure on both personal and corporate travel budgets.

Only 3.6 million people arrived from other countries, marking a decline of 11 percent from June 2008 to June 2009. For the six months of the year, international arrivals were off 10 percent year-over-year. The spending situation was even worse. Guests to the United States fell 22 percent from June 2008 to June 2009, the eight month in a row in which this measure dropped. For the first half of the year, foreign visitors spent $60 billion – a 15 percent decline.

Travel from Canada took a hit in June, down 13 percent in June. Land arrivals fell 15 percent, with 11 percent fewer coming by air. For the first half of the year, Canadian visits were off 9 percent. The situation with Mexico was more favorable. Land arrivals jumped 5 percent, with air travel down 15 percent. Overall, travel from Mexico to the United States showed a modest decline of 1 percent for the month of June. For the year, however, visits from Mexico plunged 13 percent year-over-year.

Excluding Canada and Mexico, foreign visits fell for 16 of the top 20 countries in June – nine at double-digit rates. For the first two quarters of 2009, the results for the top 20 are the same, though only eight countries posted double-digit drops. Travel from Europe fell 11 percent for the first half of the year, with the United Kingdom posting a worse-than-average rate of 17 percent. This country accounts for 36 percent of all Western European arrivals, and Western Europe is responsible for close to half of all overseas visitors to the United States. Visits from Eastern Europe were up 3 percent from June 2008 to June 2009 and 1 percent for the first half of the year.

Asia, however, sustained the greatest drops. From June 2008 to June 2009, visitation from Asia fell 28 percent – driving the first-half results down 17 percent. Visits from Japan plunged 39 percent from June to June and 18 percent for the first half of the year. Japan sent 51 percent of Asian visitors to the United States in the first half of the year. Travel from South Korea and India fell 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively, with China down 4 percent for the first half of the year.

Foreigners spend $9.5bn on travel to and in the U.S., down 22%

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s not exactly a surprise: foreign spending on U.S.-related travel is down sharply year-over-year. In May this year, foreigners dropped $9.5 billion on travel to the United States and tourism within the country. This is down 22 percent from May 2008. according to the Department of Commerce. A global recession triggered by last year’s financial crisis (duh) has made travel relatively more expensive, despite the fact that it’s generally cheaper. After all, a trans-Atlantic flight for $10 is worthless if you only have $1.

People traveling to the United States spent $2.1 billion last May, a decline of more than 22 percent. Other travel and tourism goods and services accounted for $7.5 billion – off 23 percent year-over-year. This is the seventh month in a row in which travel spending to and within the United States fell, and the trend has accelerated since November 2008. Single-digit declines ended in February 2009, and a 15 percent drop in April preceded May’s total 22 percent decline.

So, if you aren’t hearing as many fun accents at your local restaurant, this is the reason why. Travel discounts, sometimes, aren’t enough to offset financial calamity … a fact that industry has come to know all too well.