13 May 2010

US Inbound Visits Decline 6% in 2009

For a tough year the US managed to eek out a smaller decline incoming than might have been expected. Year on Year according to the US TIA - the overall decline was 6%.

There are three reports that can be viewed.

To view the top states and cities visited by overseas travelers, go to: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/download_data_table/2009_States_and_Cities.pdf

The 2009 overseas traveler profile may be viewed at: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/download_data_table/2009_Overseas_Visitor_Profile.pdf

To see the market profiles, go to: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/inbound.general_information.inbound_overview.html

There are some interesting characteristics that can be gleaned from the data.

Business Travel took a hammering - down more than a million visits and who dropped in market share to now around 20% of all trip visits. This reflected the major drop in transatlantic business travel which is reflected throughout the report. Leisure travel rose slightly. The needle didn't mover for many other points. For example advance purchase stayed the same. Average number of nights etc.

And what of 2010.

The rise in the dollar is going to hurt inbound in my opinion. The increase in the dollar against the Euro has been significant in 2010 and with the Euro zone in financial crisis we will see a slackening off of Euro visitors. This will be offset by a rise from Asia and Latin America but remember that Western Europe represents the largest proportion of visitors to the USA and double the number from Asia.

So US vendors selling inbound better sharpen your pencils at Pow Wow starting tomorrow.

Cheers

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