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US to recover from 9/11 tourism slump in 2007
Inbound tourism to the US is on track to return to pre-9/11 levels in 2007.
Travel to America following September 11, 2001, dropped 17% from a record high of 51.2 million visitors in 2000.
But the country hosted 51.1 million international visitors in 2006, a four per cent rise over 2005. Travel receipts last year broke records at $107.4 billion, up five per cent from 2005.
US commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez expects the trend to continue, and anticipates a 21% increase in the number of travellers to the US over the next five years.
The Commerce Department predicts the number of visitors from China will rise by 60%, while those coming from both India and Brazil will increase by 28% over the next five years. South Korean and Japanese travellers are also expected to pay more visits to the US, along with those from the UK, Germany, France and Italy.
Gutierrez said: “International travel to the United States continues to show growth over growth as it reaches near record highs in the number of international visitors to our country.”
While the number of visitors from countries that are enrolled in the United States’ Visa Waiver Program increased in 2006, Gutierrez said a significant portion of last year’s increase can be attributed to visitors from countries whose citizens must still obtain visas to enter the country. Travellers to the United States from both China and India increased 18 percent, and travellers from the Middle East increased five per cent.
by Phil Davies
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