US tourism grows 16%

US tourism industries had tourism-related sales of $747.8 billion in the third quarter of this year, an increase of 16.6% from the previous quarter, according to data released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The government agency reported that level of sales was only one-half of one percent below the pre-recession park of $751.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2000. Two leading growth areas were air transportation, and hotels and lodging places. Direct tourism-related sales in the air transportation industry grew up 32.1% in the third quarter, while hotels and lodging grew by 15.9% in the same quarter.