Modest increases in leisure, business and international inbound travel in 2010 will create 90,000 new jobs, says the US Travel Association.
“Our industry is uniquely capable of adapting to economic upswings and quickly adding tens of thousands of jobs, USTA chief executive Roger Dow said in a statement.
The group forecasts leisure travel to rise two percent next year, business travel to rise 2.5 percent, and international travel to the US to rise three percent.
The U.S. travel industry lost 400,000 jobs in the last two years.
Despite the projected three percent gain in international travel to the US, the growth when Canada and Mexico are excluded is expected to be considerably less – one percent – limiting economic gains.
Overseas travelers to the US spend considerably more than travelers from Mexico and Canada do, the group said.
By David Wilkening
