US travel figures released
The US Depart of Commerce recently released data relating to travel into the US by international visitors, and outbound trips by US citizens. According to the figures, six million international visitors travelled to the US in June this year, an increase of nine per cent compared with June 2013; June marked the sixth consecutive month of increased US visits in 2014, and figures for the six-month period as a whole (34.6 million visitors in total) also equalled a nine-per-cent increase compared with the same period the previous year. Canada and Mexico were the top inbound markets, with non-resident visits from Canada increasing by three per cent compared with 2013, and visits from Mexico increasing by an impressive 35 per cent. The UK, Japan and the People’s Republic of China were the three other most popular source markets, although the UK registered a three-per-cent decrease compared with 2013, while Japan registered a one-per-cent increase in visitor numbers and China registered a 22-per-cent rise.
Florida-based Tourico Holidays analysed the booking behaviour of customers travelling to the US from Europe, and found that as the price of overnight stays continue to decline, it is driving a surge in the popularity of the US as a destination. New York was the second most visited city for Europeans in 2014, with eight per cent of bookings, second only to Paris – which it is threatening to overtake. Las Vegas also entered the top-five list this year, with four per cent of all bookings, and Orlando moved from 15th to 12th place.
“North America’s increased popularity is likely due to the fact that the US has become an increasingly affordable travel destination,” commented Neil Emerson, Tourico Holidays’ senior vice-president of product development. “In 2013, visitors could expect to pay about $230 … for an overnight stay in New York City. Currently, these rates have dropped to less than $220. Prices in Las Vegas and Orlando have also declined from $123 to $117 … and $98 to $81 a night, respectively.” The leading European source markets, according to Tourico’s analysis – which involved comparing data from the first two quarters of 2013 with the equivalent period in 2014 – are Spain, the UK, Italy, Germany and Romania.
Focusing back on the US Department of Commerce’s figures, they show that in May this year, travel to overseas markets by US citizens was up by nine per cent compared with May 2013, with numbers totalling 2.91 million. Travel to Europe was up by eight per cent, travel to the Caribbean was up by 16 per cent, travel to Central America was up by 11 per cent, and travel to the Middle East was up by 12 per cent.