U.S. Travel Industry Reports Uptick in International Visitation

Neither a ban on laptops or travelers can keep U.S. tourism down for long, suggests new data from the U.S. Travel Association.

Its newly released Travel Trends Index report shows that international travel to the U.S. grew by more than 5 percent in May compared with data for May 2016. The strong showing contradicts fears that tourism from abroad would slow in reaction to U.S. policies and rhetoric, including President Trump’s travel ban.

“There is widespread talk of daunting challenges to the U.S. travel market _ perception of the country abroad is mentioned most, but the strong dollar and slowing global economy are factors as well _ yet the resilience of our sector continues to astound,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow in a statement.

The Association also revised upward its data from April 2017 to a 6.6 percent increase over April 2016. Originally the association had said international travel to the U.S. grew 4 percent in April.

But despite the strong spring numbers, an overall slowdown is projected for the year, with anticipated growth in travel through November at just 1.8 percent higher than last year. The projection is based on data for future bookings.

Source: The Associated Press