National Travel and Tourism Office releases revised US arrivals data
US government officials published revised data of inbound tourism which contrary to expectation showed a marginal increase in arrivals during 2017.
The updated National Travel and Tourism Office data showed arrivals grew 0.7% in 2017, generating record spending of $251.4 billion.
The agency had earlier reported a drop of 1.8% compared to 2016.
The Tourism Office halted the publication of data earlier this year after it said up to 4.5 million records from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency had been misclassified.
Embarrassingly, the agency found ‘a meaningful and increasing number of non-U.S. citizens traveling on visas to the United States are being categorized as U.S. residents.’
Crucially, the United States’ market share of global tourism is falling and last year’s data showed steep drops from markets which have been targeted by the Trump Administration’s tough rhetoric – Mexico and the Middle East.
Visitation from the Middle East fell by 12% and 6% from Mexico.
The country is falling behind other nations which are keeping pace with surging international travel, said Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
"US market share has eroded, which means we are not adequately harnessing global travel growth to keep adding jobs and exports to the US balance sheet," Dow said.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
TAP Air Portugal to operate 29 flights due to strike on December 11
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent