Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Spotlight [Excerpt] | Select USA

By Select USA Staff

The travel and tourism industry in the United States generated nearly $1.6 trillion in economic output in 2015. This activity supported 8.1 million U.S. jobs, and accounted for nearly 10 percent of all U.S. exports and nearly a third (31 percent) of all U.S. services exports. One out of every 18 Americans is employed, either directly or indirectly, in a travel or tourism-related industry. In 2014, U.S. travel and tourism output represented 2.7 percent of gross domestic product.

While the majority of activity in the industry is domestic, expenditures by international visitors in the United States totaled $216.9 billion in 2015, yielding a $61 billion trade surplus for the year. According to U.S. Department of Commerce projections, international travel to the United States should grow by 3.1 percent annually through 2020. The U.S. leads the world in international travel and tourism exports, and travel and tourism is the top services export, accounting for 31 percent of all U.S. services exports in 2015.

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