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May 29, 2012

U.S. International Travel, March 2012 Year-to-Date, Up Seven Percent

U.S. citizen outbound market totaled 13.1 million travelers for the first three months of 2012

March Year-to-Date (2012/2011) Comparisons

U.S. travel to overseas markets(1) reached 6.3 million, up 11 percent in the first three months. Regional results were:

  • Europe, 1.9 million travelers, up eight percent
  • Caribbean, 1.6 million travelers, up 12 percent
  • Asia, 1.1 travelers, up 12 percent
  • Central America, 647,000 travelers, up 21 percent
  • South America, 424,000 travelers, up eight percent
  • Middle East, 346,000 travelers, up 17 percent
  • Oceania, 151,000 travelers, up 11 percent
  • Africa, 81,000 travelers, up one percent

U.S. travel to North American markets totaled 6.8 million, up almost three percent.

  • Mexico, 5.2 million travelers, up two percent; air travel (1.6 million) was up 11 percent
  • Canada, 1.6 million travelers, up five percent; air travel (608,000) was up by four percent

March Year-to Date Market Share

U.S. travel to overseas claimed 48 percent of all U.S. outbound international travel.

  • Europe almost a 15 percent share;
  • Caribbean a 13 percent share;
  • Asia an eight percent share;
  • Central America a five percent share;
  • South America a three percent share;
  • Middle East a three percent share;
  • Oceania a one percent share; and
  • Africa a one percent share.

North American markets received 52 percent of all U.S. international outbound travel.

  • U.S. travel to Mexico a 40 percent share; and
  • Canada a 12 percent share.

Total U.S. outbound travel for the months of January, February and March were up two percent, 12 percent and seven percent, respectively.

For detail information and data tables please visit: https://travel.trade.gov/view/m-2012-O-001/index.html

In 2011 OTTI began to report total U.S. outbound travel by month, not just air-only traffic. Total travel (all modes) to Canada and Mexico is provided along with their traditional air-only subtotals. The timing of this report is dependent on receipt of aggregate data from Stats Canada and Banco de Mexico.

In addition, since the DHS I-92 (APIS) data contains all air arrivals data, in addition to air departures data, OTTI will also report total air traffic as soon as it is available each month.

See January report: https://travel.trade.gov/tinews/archive/tinews2012/20120313.html

U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI)
1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 1015A
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.