by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:36 AM ET, Wed July 8, 2015
The numbers have been processed and the results are in: the U.S. tourism industry is booming. This conclusion was made based on an analysis by the U.S. Travel Association of the recently released Labor Department employment report and the Commerce Department export report.
According to David Huether, the U.S. Travel Association's senior vice president, one of the areas of biggest growth for the tourism industry was employment. Not only did the industry add 32,500 jobs in May - the biggest increase in almost three years - but tourism employment across the country rose to a new record high of over 8.1 million.
While other businesses across the country have struggled, the travel industry has outpaced job growth in the rest of the economy by 33 percent since 2010. Travel exports also have grown thus far in 2015, increasing by 1.3 percent this year as opposed to all other goods and services being down 3.2 percent.
Since early 2009, travel exports have risen by an astounding 58 percent, which is 21 percent faster than the rise in other exports of goods and services. International travelers visiting the United States also provided a boost in 2014, as the industry supported an additional 1.1 million total jobs and contributed $180 billion to the economy.
For the full Labor Department employment report and the Commerce Department export report released last Thursday, check out the official files or the U.S. Travel Association's website.
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