Articles tagged “usa”

There's no doubt the travel industry is hoping for a Hillary Clinton presidency as opposed to working with Donald Trump in the White House. But the U.S. Travel Association is courting both sides leading up to the election to make sure both candidates understand the size and scope of the travel industry.

The decline of tourism growth in the U.S. impacts nearly every other sector of the economy. Macroeconomic trends, along with safety and security concerns, are making travel to the U.S. a more challenging sell.

International travel had another banner year in 2015, but given currency challenges and uncertainties such as the Brexit vote, the odds are against a repeat performance in terms of international visitor arrivals in 2016.

All that talk about now being a great time for Americans to travel abroad thanks to the strong dollar is probably not what the U.S. Travel Association wants to hear. Luckily, low gas prices mean that more Americans will be on the road than have been in the last few years.

If the U.S. wants to be competitive in the global tourism industry, it has some catching up to do.

Chinese travelers will continue to be more common in many U.S. markets during the next five years, but their numbers will not grow as fast as they have over the last decade.

It looks like another healthy summer travel season for the U.S. is on its way.

Roger Dow of the U.S. Travel Association said the first decade of the 21st century was the "lost decade," when international travel grew exponentially but visitor arrivals to the U.S. remained relatively flat. Shutting down the visa waiver program in in the wake of terrorist attacks would again halt growth just as numbers begin to show it's working.

Travel brands trying to coax U.S. employees out of their offices may be preaching to the choir. Most employees probably don't resent the idea of time away from the office and would likely take vacation days if they felt their bosses truly encouraged it. It's U.S. employers who need to hear from travel brands even more as they set the standard for vacation policies and their promotion.

Visa overstays are a hot topic for xenophobic politicians, but the data indicates that very few international travelers choose to remain in the U.S. illegally. It also so happens that the worst offenders are America's neighbors.