The 20 Countries That Sent the Most Tourists to the U.S. in 2013

We hear a lot about the incoming wave of Chinese and Brazilian visitors that are driving growth of the U.S. tourism industry, but data released Yesterday by the National Travel & Tourism Office shows that Taiwan and Colombia actually had the greatest increase in visitors to the U.S. in 2013.

Although visitors from these countries account for less than 2 percent of the 69.8 million record tourists that visited the U.S. in 2013, they increased 33 percent and 24 percent over the previous year.

The rapid increase in visitors from these countries highlights how it's not just China or Brazil that are driving an increase in visitors.

They are undeniably leaders in the larger regions of Latin America and Asia, accounting for a total 3.9 million visitors in 2013 and growing quickly, but they are not the only incoming visitors that matter.

A few more statistics about the international tourists that came to the U.S. in 2013:

• Canada set a record for visits - 23.4 million - to the U.S in 2013, up 3 percent.
• Mexico has yet to reach its 2007 peak with 14.3 million visitors in 2013.
• Annual overseas visits (excluding Canada and Mexico) totaled 32.0 million in 2013, up 8% over 2012.
• Eighteen of the top 20 countries registered increases.
• Eleven of the top 20 countries reached record level of visits in 2013. Those countries are noted with an asterisk in the below chart.