by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:55 AM ET, Mon April 15, 2019
Destination marketing organization Brand USA announced last week that its efforts to entice international travelers to visit America are helping to fuel the nation's economy.
The study by Oxford Economics shows Brand USA's marketing efforts are generating a high return on investment and driving significant incremental international visitation and spending.
Brand USA has driven strong results over the past six years and set new records for incremental international visitor spending, tax revenues generated and total economic impact in 2018. In total, every $1 Brand USA spent on marketing generated $32 in spending by international visitors.
Last year, 1.13 million incremental international visitors to America spent $4.1 billion on travel and fare receipts and contributed $1.17 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. The tourists also generated $8.9 billion in total economic impact and helped support 52,305 jobs in the United States.
"International visitation is an important driver for the nation's economy-benefiting a wide range of industries well beyond travel and tourism," Brand USA CEO Christopher L. Thompson said in a statement. "The United States provides international travelers more value in its diversity of experiences than any other place in the world, and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners to market the USA as the ultimate travel destination."
Over the last six years, Brand USA's marketing efforts have resulted in 6.6 million incremental visitors to the USA who spent $21.8 billion on travel and fare receipts and generated $6.2 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, and $47.7 billion in total economic impact.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international travel to America is the nation's top services export and represents 11 percent of all U.S. exports, contributing a $77.4 billion trade surplus.
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