Skift Take

A sharp increase in travel to the Middle East could be caused by increase in business travel after the slow summer months.

A total 5.1 million U.S. citizens traveled abroad in September 2014, up six percent over September 2013, according to monthly statistics released this week by the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office.

This brings U.S. citizen international travel to 52.1 million in the first eight months of the year.

Every month, the NTTO releases data regarding recent travel activity, including details about outbound travel from the United States. This is the most recent month for which this information is available.

Throughout September, travel to overseas locations accounted for 46 percent of U.S. outbound international travel while a slightly higher percentage, 54 percent, went no farther than Canada or Mexico.

Europe and the Caribbean remain the most popular destinations throughout September capturing a total 29 percent of all travel.

The greatest growth among overseas markets year-over-year was seen in the Middle East, up 20 percent, to 133,000 travelers, and the Caribbean, up 10 percent to 347,000 travelers.

U.S. travel to border nations of Mexico and Canada increased 7 percent compared to September 2013 with the most growth seen in Mexico. American visits to Mexico increased 11 percent to 1.6 million travelers, but only increased one percent to 1.2million people in Canada.

The full statistics can be found below:

Regions Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Total YTD % Change YTD
Europe 577,691 497,003 806,663 868,367 1,305,842 1,614,486 1,413,798 1,185,907 1,241,537 9,511,294 4.80%
Caribbean 498,620 550,203 705,211 629,774 624,280 742,860 821,650 629,224 347,244 5,549,066 9.80%
Asia 376,296 312,814 397,296 381,817 379,197 424,155 397,960 342,239 338,630 3,350,404 5.00%
South America 127,749 137,612 154,680 123,068 144,464 208,023 167,627 143,609 112,581 1,319,413 2.70%
Central America 219,192 225,540 283,108 213,929 209,012 301,095 308,557 206,176 121,158 2,087,767 9.50%
Oceania 51,774 62,658 60,097 41,314 46,359 45,003 48,892 39,913 38,013 434,023 4.90%
Middle East 140,179 119,192 140,706 141,744 162,244 180,874 148,098 145,620 133,173 1,311,830 10.70%
Africa 23,982 21,066 27,950 27,596 36,044 40,542 40,732 34,231 29,205 281,348 2.60%
Total Overseas 2,015,483 1,926,088 2,575,711 2,427,609 2,907,442 3,557,038 3,347,314 2,726,919 2,361,541 23,845,145 6.50%
Mexico 1,962,616 1,932,875 2,260,427 2,036,762 1,960,747 2,183,275 2,325,094 2,149,457 1,613,564 18,424,816 19.30%
Canada 476,583 509,976 585,887 713,435 1,070,319 1,509,984 1,902,171 1,940,471 1,121,073 9,829,899 0.30%
North America 2,439,199 2,442,851 2,846,314 2,750,197 3,031,066 3,693,259 4,227,265 4,089,928 2,734,637 28,254,715 11.90%
Grand Total 4,454,682 4,368,939 5,422,025 5,177,806 5,938,508 7,250,297 7,574,579 6,816,847 5,096,178 52,099,860 9.40%
Monthly % Change 7.60% 9.30% 6.70% 16.70% 14.50% 10.40% 10.50% 6.30% 7.30%
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Tags: skiftstats, usa

Photo credit: A photo of camel taken by a tourist outside of Doha, Qatar. Joey Gannon / Flickr

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