Tourism Industries International Travel and Forecast for the US - Chart #7   Previous   Back to Index Page   Next

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The two percent decline in arrivals from all of the overseas regions was actually mild, considering the depth of the decline in Asia.

Western European travelers were the mainstay for staving off even larger declines in overseas arrivals by showing a three percent increase in arrivals. Overall these travelers contributed a five percent increase in receipts, setting a record $30.2 billion level of expenditures. Four of the top five markets reached all time records for arrivals.

The second largest overseas region for visitors is Asia. The affects of Asia's economic faltering, which began in September 1997, were fully realized in 1998 as the region recorded a 13% decline in arrivals for the year. There's no question that the decline in arrivals to 6.7 million in 1998 was dramatically affected by conditions in both Japan and Korea, particularly. For Oceania the 6% decline was primarily attributable to Australia, which succumbed to the affects of the Asian crisis. This was compounded by aspects such as the Australian travelers being pursued by low airfares for interregional travel and by the lure of European markets.

The rest of the regions performed positively in 1998 with the exception of the Caribbean (-2%). Despite the volatility in Brazil with the devaluation of the Real, the South American region grew by nearly five percent in 1998.