9 Charts That Show the Health of International Business Travel Into the U.S.

The U.S. business travel sector has recovered from the big dip of 2009 and 2010, but is still nowhere near the 2007-2008 levels, according to latest data from National Travel and Tourism Office, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The numbers on international overseas business visitors coming into U.S. — excluding Canada and Mexico — are now growing at nearly a 5-6% rate for the last couple of years, though the number of business visitors is not increasing as fast as the leisure travelers coming to the U.S.

The 2014 data released also shows that Asia is catching up fast to European business travelers coming to America, which is a good thing for the economy as the potential for growth from the emerging Asian countries is greater than that from than Europe.

Below, we have extracted nine charts from the latest international business traveler numbers released by the U.S. Dept of Commerce. Click on each chart to get a larger version.

Chart 1: The business travelers coming to U.S. are growing but not at the same rate as leisure travelers.

Chart 2: Great to see Asia catching up to Europe, lots of growth left from the region.

Chart 3: Convention travel to U.S. is not holding up.

Chart 4: More business travelers coming to U.S. are adding leisure time to their trips.

Chart 5: The traditional sources of information for business travelers are still holding up, but OTAs are gaining as a source of information.

Chart 6: Expect the rented car business to decline as Uber and other mobile-enabled cab/taxi services become more common.

Chart 7: Culture and shopping as part of the business trip is on the rise in U.S.

Chart 8: The length of stay for international business travelers coming into America is increasing, and female business travelers are getting younger.

Chart 9: The U.S. east coast still rules as an entry point for business travelers from around the globe — largely thanks to New York City.