TI News: An information service from Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (OTTI)

November 22, 2011

U.S. International Travel for First Quarter 2011

The U.S. citizen outbound market totaled 12.4 million travelers for the first quarter of 2011.

Overseas ⁽¹⁾ markets held a 45 percent share of all U.S. outbound international travel.

• U.S. travel to Europe was 1.8 million visitors, with a 14 percent share;
• Asia was 947,000, with an eight percent share;
• Caribbean was 1.5 million, with a 12 percent share;
• South America was 394,000, with a three percent share;
• Central America was 535,000, with a four percent share;
• Middle East was 296,000, with a two percent share;
• Oceania was 136,000, with a one percent share; and
• Africa was 80,000, with a one percent share.

North American markets received 55 percent of all U.S. international outbound travel.

• U.S. travel to Mexico was 5.2 million visitors, with a 42 percent share (1.5 million traveled by air); and
• Canada was 1.5 million, with a 12 percent share (585,000 traveled by air).

For background information on the restructuring of U.S. international travel data, please link to: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/tinews/archive/tinews2011/20110927.html and http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/tinews/archive/tinews2011/20110630_US_Intrenational_Outbound.html

As reported, methodological changes in tallying U.S. international travel statistics were made in July 2010. Having moved from the paper-based manually processed DHS I-92 form to the paperless automated Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) make the first quarter 2011 vs. 2010 comparisons difficult. This is particularly the case regarding how citizenship is recorded which is more accurate since July 2010. The anomaly will carry forward through the second quarter of 2011. Improvements under APIS include an electronic document system (eliminates keypunching from hard to read paper documents), rigorous accountability for all international flights and port-to-port detail now available on the U.S. - Canadian market. Also, monthly data will be available soon after month-end.

For the first time, OTTI is reporting total U.S. outbound travel by month. Total travel (all modes) to Canada and Mexico is provided along with their traditional air-only subtotals.

For detail information and data tables please visit: https://travel.trade.gov/view/m-2011-O-001/index.html

Thank you for your patience during the transition period when this program was totally re-engineered, both by Department of Homeland Security and Department of Commerce. We look forward to making continued enhancements to this program.

U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI)
1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 1003
Washington, D.C. 20230
Phone: (202) 482-0140
Website: www.tinet.ita.doc.gov
Email: otti@trade.gov

⁽¹⁾ Overseas markets reflect non-stop air-only data. A portion of the non-stop passenger traffic to Europe will not visit Europe, but will connect through one of Europe's airline hubs (LHR, AMS, FRA, CDG, MAD, etc.) to Africa and the Middle East. The adjustment to these regions, reflecting visitation (1+ nights), occurs after year-end data is compiled.