The Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (OTTI) conducts the monthly Survey of International Air Travelers that collects data on passengers departing from U.S. international gateway airports. The survey instrument is a self-administered questionnaire which can be used by either of the two target populations: 1) non-resident visitors to the U.S. from overseas or 2) U.S. travelers going abroad.

The methods of data collection involve either direct participation of the airlines which arrange for their flight crews to distribute and collect surveys on-board or the use of contractors or local partners to distribute and collect the questionnaires in the airport departure gate area (“airport intercept”). The airport-intercept method accounts for 52% of all collections while in-flight method accounts for 48%. OTTI annual funding for 2009 supports the collection and processing of approximately 72,640 passenger surveys.

Due to the logistical challenges in administering the survey, certain airlines and airports are not able to produce completed surveys in proportion to their traffic numbers. The aim of this program is to develop a public/private partnership to survey additional international flights on a monthly basis to improve airport specific and destination collections.

Currently, OTTI is conducting this effort in Atlanta, Denver, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Washington Dulles. Each program is slightly different, but the supplemental collections are being conducted to improve the quality of the data collections at each airport. In all cases the airport authority works in cooperation with its convention & visitors bureau (destination marketing organization).

Benefits
By participating in this program, the airport/destination will collect a larger and more representative sample of passengers, as well as improve the control over the sample collection. All of the collections obtained from the airport will be combined and used in the national data OTTI releases on international travel to and from the USA. Combined in-flight and airport supplements will result in better representative sample of passengers at the airport, improving all of the estimates provided. The combined sample (national and supplemental) will be weighted to the country-of-residence and port-of-entry travel population figures. This program will also assist in obtaining an improved sample that better matches the count of visitors to the United States.

A testimonial from Fritz Smith, Vice President of Tourism, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
“The Philadelphia CVB is partnering with Philadelphia International Airport to collect information about international travelers utilizing the In-Flight Survey instrument from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI). We launched this effort when we realized that OTTI needed partners at the local level to help distribute the survey in order to collect enough data to provide estimates on visitation to the destination.

Since we began this effort, the new data available to support OTTI’s data collect efforts have given the Philadelphia CVB and its constituents a much greater understanding of who our customers are from the international market as well as the ability to gauge the economic impact of these valued travelers. This data in turn helps to make the case to policy makers that we need to maintain our international marketing efforts. The OTTI data is the single most important tool that we have to make the case about the importance of marketing to attract international visitors, and the data we collect at Philadelphia International Airport is the lynchpin of this effort.”

Below are some general responsibilities for OTTI and the destination/airport authority.

OTTI (through its contractor, CIC Research) will provide:

• Analysis of current sample and suggested supplement.
• A list of potential flights to target each month.
• Questionnaires and pencils to be distributed to departing passengers in the appropriate language mix. There are 12 language versions available.
• Prepaid, pre-addressed shipping labels and shipping bags for the return shipment to OTTI’s contractor.
• Tally sheet for each flight OTTI requests be surveyed.
• Guidance and monitor results of survey collections from main program and supplemental effort to make adjustments if needed.
• Processing of all surveys collected

Destination/Airport Authority’s Responsibilities

• The survey team will utilize the sample frame provided to them each month. The sample frame will include a list of flights to survey by airline and city pair.
• Distribute and collect the self-administered surveys to both US citizens and non-resident international air passengers on a random basis.
• Promptly return surveys to our contractor using prepaid, pre-addressed shipping labels and shipping bags provided.
• Other options are available, including OTTI/its contractor hiring a survey contractor to collect the surveys. All costs associated will be billed to the parties interested.
• Please see the Boarding Area Procedures
• Please see Frequently Asked Questions.

For Additional Information:
To find out more about the program, go to: http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/research/programs/ifs/index.html

To see the national level results of the survey, go to: http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/inbound.general_information.inbound_overview.html

To see world regional and country specific estimates that include destinations visited, if sample sizes allow, go to: http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/index.html#inbound

We hope this description provides enough information to entice you to contact us to learn more about the program. If you have any questions, or require additional information on this program, please contact:

Ron Erdmann Deputy Director Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (202) 482-4554 Email: ron.erdmann@mail.doc.gov

Richard Champley Senior Research Analyst & Program Manager Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (202) 482-4753 Email: Richard.champley@mail.doc.gov