WASHINGTON -- For the second consecutive year, the U.S. attracted a record number of international visitors in 2007, and they spent a ton of money.
Arrivals rose 10.7% over 2006 and topped 56.7 million, according to the Commerce Department's year-end data, and visitors spent a record $122.7 billion, a 14% increase. The total includes $97.8 billion for lodging, food, admissions, entertainment, shopping and other incidentals, and $24.9 billion in fares paid to U.S. airlines.
At a press briefing last week, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said visitors again spent more in the U.S. than American travelers spent abroad, more than doubling the $8.3 billion travel surplus of 2006 to $17.8 billion. He said tourism now accounts for nearly 8% of U.S. exports and 26% of service-industry exports, making it the U.S. economy's largest service export.
Ordinarily, numbers like these could speak for themselves, but in Washington, most numbers can have "spin," and these are no exception. The Travel Industry Association (TIA) says the good news isn't nearly as good as it ought to be.
In a statement issued shortly after the Gutierrez briefing, the TIA said the growth in arrivals was being fueled largely by increased border traffic from Canada and Mexico. And even though the total number of arrivals is at a record level, the TIA was quick to note that the number of annual visitors from overseas, who are bigger spenders by far, still lags behind the peak year of 2000 by 2 million.
"More significantly, the U.S. welcomed nearly 10 million fewer overseas visitors in 2007 than it would have if it simply kept pace with post-9/11 worldwide, long-haul travel trends," the TIA said.
The U.S., in short, should be getting a larger share of the global travel pie.
When that question came up at the Commerce Department briefing, Gutierrez said, "Of course, we would like to see our market share growing." But he added that the good news was that the 14% growth in expenditures was on a par with visitor spending elsewhere in the world. He said the position of the U.S. was not unique because "eight of the top 10 destinations have lost market share" as a result of the growth of emerging destinations.
Through a spokeswoman, TIA President Roger Dow called Gutierrez's remark a "disappointing" response.
"Let's hope that a weak American dollar is not the proposed solution to our travel woes," Dow said.
The TIA's preferred solution is a government-supported, international tourism marketing campaign, financed by industry contributions and a proposed fee to be collected from international travelers. The TIA said the proposal would involve no cost to the American taxpayer, but the administration still isn't buying.
At the press conference, Gutierrez reiterated his view that advertising and promotion was "the private sector's role."
To contact News & Opinion editor Bill Poling, send e-mail to [email protected].