Where did all our long-haul travelers go?
According to a CNBC report, Americans just aren’t crazy about long distances. From 2000 to 2009, long-haul travel fell by 2.2 million in the United States, while it surged by 46 million for the rest of the world. Difficulty in securing visas for U.S. access is part of the problem, and the impact is one that affects our economy, as it makes it more difficult for the hospitality industry to bring foreign money to us.
Nonetheless, foreign travelers are still finding ways to bring their cash to our pockets. Visitors to the United States spent $88.2 billion in the first eight months of 2010, up 10 percent from the same period in 2009.
[photo by Dave Heuts via Flickr]