Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLE 1.4 World's Top Ten Tourism Earners, 2009
International Tourist Receipts
(US$ billion)
% Change
Rank
Country
2009
2008
a
09/08
1
United States
93.9
110.0
14.4
2
Spain
53.2
61.6
9.0
3
France
49.4
56.6
7.6
4
Italy
40.2
45.7
7.2
5
China
39.7
40.8
2.9
6
Germany
34.7
40.0
8.5
7
United Kingdom
30.1
36.0
1.6
8
Australia
25.6
24.8
11.2
9
Turkey
21.3
22.0
3.2
10
Austria
19.4
21.6
5.2
a
Data as collected in UNWTO database June 2010.
Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The decline in international tourism spending in Canada mirrored a worldwide trend that saw a
decrease in international tourism receipts (constant prices) in the
first three quarters of 2009.
According to UNWTO, international tourism has shown some resiliency toward the global economic
crisis, falling at about half the pace of estimated exports worldwide.
In Canada, spending by international visitors decreased 8.7 percent in real terms to its lowest level
since 1994. In comparison, Canada
s exports of goods and services declined 14.0 percent. Overnight
travel from the United States and overseas fell 6.4 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively. This was the
first decline in travel from overseas since 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
outbreak occurred.
Canadians love to travel; consequently, Canada's international travel account de
cit was at
$12.6 billion in 2008, the highest level ever. Over the past 20 years, Canadian spending overseas has
decreased only twice, in 1994 and 2002.
'
United States
In the United States, tourism is ranked as the third largest retail industry behind automobile and food
sales. In employment, it is second to health services. Although tourism is often thought of as leisure
travel, it also encompasses business and convention travel, meetings, seminars, recreation, student
travel (if less than a year), transportation services, and accommodations. According to the United
States Travel Association (USTA) research department, travel and tourism generated $731.3 billion in
spending in 2009. This total includes expenditures by foreign travelers, domestic travelers, and
international passenger fares.
These travel expenditures, in turn, generated 7.4 million jobs for Americans, with $186.3 billion in
payroll income as well as $113.0 billion tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments.
International visitors spent $121.1 billion traveling in the United States in 2009, including international
passenger fares, while U.S. resident travelers spent $99.1 billion traveling in foreign countries. As a
result, a travel trade surplus of $22.0 billion was generated.
Traveler spending in the United States is projected to total $738.5 billion in 2010, $805.7 billion
in 2011, $858.70 billion in 2012, and $895.5 in 2013 according to USTA
'
s forecasts. Readers are
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