Skift Take

U.S. hotels still hold their own with international travelers, but the amount of weight they can throw around hasn't gotten heavier.

International travelers are gradually decreasing their stays at U.S. hotels when visiting for business or leisure as home-shares and rentals become more available with more ways to book them.

That’s according to the latest data from National Travel and Tourism Office, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, as part of its annual Survey of International Air Travelers. One of the reports in this survey summarizes what we know about overseas travelers staying at U.S. hotels.

American hotels are still the most-used accommodation type by these travelers but the negative growth doesn’t lie: this group is slowly seeking out alternative lodging and that trend likely won’t dissipate.

Below are nine charts that show the state of international guests at U.S. hotels:

Chart 1: For now, the number of overseas visitors staying at U.S. hotels is growing but that growth isn’t very robust, and market share is decreasing. Note: these numbers exclude Canada and Mexico:

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 1.32.22 PMSource: National Travel and Tourism Office

Chart 2: European travelers still utilize U.S. hotels the most compared to travelers from other regions but looking at individual countries it’s Japanese travelers who account for the largest market share and Brazilian and Chinese travelers are also some of the top overseas hotel guests.

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 1.43.22 PM

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office

Chart 3: Leisure travelers are the largest piece of the pie for overseas hotel guests and that category grew the most year-over-year for 2014 and overseas business traveler hotel stays slightly decreased.

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 12.10.08 PM

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office

Chart 4: Airlines and online booking sites are the biggest sources of planning for those booking hotel stays in the U.S.

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 12.10.25 PM

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office

Chart 5: Rental cars still claim the largest market share of transportation options used by overseas hotel guests and actually grew the most year-over-year for 2014. But 26% of this market uses private cars like Uber or Lyft or company cars and that percentage will only increase in the coming years.

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 12.10.54 PM

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office

Chart 6: The majority of international travelers staying at U.S. hotels are shopping and sightseeing more so than any other activity.

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 12.11.27 PM

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office

Chart 7: Overseas guests at U.S. hotels book stays for about two weeks on average and the amount of time it takes them to book a trip increased 3.1% year-over-year for 2014.

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 12.11.50 PM

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office

Chart 8: New York has the most international hotel guests of any U.S. state followed by Florida and California.

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 12.13.57 PM

 

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office

Chart 9: New York City hotels have the most international hotel guests followed by Miami and Orlando, Florida.

Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 12.14.13 PM

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office

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Photo credit: American hotels are still the most-used accommodation type by international travelers visiting the U.S. Pictured here are guests at the 21c Museum Hotel Cincinnati. 21c Museum Hotels

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