Tourism in the United States
the United States recorded a total of 45 million tourists in 2020, ranking 4th in the world in absolute terms.The fact that larger countries regularly perform better in a comparison of the absolute number of guests is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of the United States, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.14 tourists per resident, the United States ranked 105th in the world. In North America, it ranked 3rd.
The United States generated around 84.21 billion US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.37 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 100 percent of all international tourism receipts in North America.
A global comparison can be found here › International tourism
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Most popular destinations in the United States
No less than 7 cities in the United States are among the top 100 most popular destinations worldwide. In 2019 New York reached the 11th place with 14.01 million tourists. According to Euromonitor, all foreign tourists with at least one overnight stay were counted.| City | Tourists | Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 14,010,000 | #11 | +3.0% |
| Miami | 8,336,800 | #29 | +2.7% |
| Los Angeles | 7,725,900 | #33 | +3.0% |
| Las Vegas | 6,639,300 | #38 | +0.7% |
| Orlando | 5,725,700 | #46 | +3.1% |
| San Francisco | 2,987,500 | #77 | +3.0% |
| Honolulu | 2,853,100 | #84 | +4.2% |
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 1,581 US Dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of the United States spend only around 682 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.Development of the tourism sector in the United States from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in the United States each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g. crew members of ships or flights are also not considered as tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all 3 countries in North America.
Revenues in tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 93.74 billion USD, or about 1.2 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 79.73 million tourists at that time and roughly 1,176 USD per person. Within 25 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased slightly. Before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, sales took up $239.45 billion billion, 1.1 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $1,447 on their vacation in the United States.In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the $239.45 billion billion (2019), only $84.21 billion billion remained. This is a 65 percent decrease in the United States.
All data for the United States in detail
| Year | Number | Receipts | % of GNP | Receipts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 45.04 m | 84.21 bn $ | 0.40 % | 1,870 $ |
| 2019 | 165.48 m | 239.45 bn $ | 1.1 % | 1,447 $ |
| 2018 | 169.32 m | 241.98 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,429 $ |
| 2017 | 174.29 m | 233.76 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,341 $ |
| 2016 | 175.26 m | 228.55 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,304 $ |
| 2015 | 176.86 m | 230.57 bn $ | 1.3 % | 1,304 $ |
| 2014 | 178.31 m | 222.75 bn $ | 1.3 % | 1,249 $ |
| 2013 | 179.31 m | 213.11 bn $ | 1.3 % | 1,188 $ |
| 2012 | 171.63 m | 195.11 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,137 $ |
| 2011 | 147.27 m | 178.94 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,215 $ |
| 2010 | 162.28 m | 161.82 bn $ | 1.1 % | 997 $ |
| 2009 | 160.51 m | 137.11 bn $ | 0.95 % | 854 $ |
| 2008 | 175.70 m | 149.09 bn $ | 1.0 % | 849 $ |
| 2007 | 175.30 m | 134.80 bn $ | 0.93 % | 769 $ |
| 2006 | 183.18 m | 121.03 bn $ | 0.88 % | 661 $ |
| 2005 | 71.48 m | 116.68 bn $ | 0.90 % | 1,632 $ |
| 2004 | 67.61 m | 107.21 bn $ | 0.88 % | 1,586 $ |
| 2003 | 62.08 m | 94.81 bn $ | 0.83 % | 1,527 $ |
| 2002 | 64.43 m | 97.42 bn $ | 0.89 % | 1,512 $ |
| 2001 | 70.98 m | 105.45 bn $ | 1.00 % | 1,486 $ |
| 2000 | 78.34 m | 118.32 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,510 $ |
| 1999 | 75.80 m | 109.19 bn $ | 1.1 % | 1,441 $ |
| 1998 | 74.77 m | 105.10 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,406 $ |
| 1997 | 82.53 m | 107.05 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,297 $ |
| 1996 | 82.76 m | 102.20 bn $ | 1.3 % | 1,235 $ |
| 1995 | 79.73 m | 93.74 bn $ | 1.2 % | 1,176 $ |
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The WTO additionally points out that in some countries the number of tourists is only counted at airports, in others also at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
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