by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 8:55 PM ET, Thu July 6, 2023
The number of international visitors to the United States continues to steadily tick upward this year, but has still not reached pre-pandemic levels.
New data from the National Travel and Tourism Office shows that as of March 2023, arrivals are up 62.3 percent compared to the same time last year. More than 5.2 million international visitors came to the United States during the month.
The March 2023 visitor volume represents 83.4 percent of the pre-COVID total for March 2019—meaning the country has not yet fully rebounded to previous levels of inbound visitation.
Still, March 2023 was the 24th consecutive month that non-U.S. resident international arrivals to the United States increased on a year-over-year basis.
The new report also notes that of the top 20 tourist generating countries to the United States, Colombia (with 61,949 visitors), was the only source market that reported a decrease in visitor volume in March 2023 compared to the same month one year earlier. Overall visitation from Colombia is down -5 percent.
On the other end of the spectrum, the largest number of international arrivals was from our neighbor to the north—Canada, from which some 2,09 million people visited. Rounding out the top five source markets is Mexico (970,564), the United Kingdom (300,896), Germany (144,399) and Japan (112,269). Combined, these top five countries accounted for 69.4% percent of the total international arrivals to the United States.
International visits to this country are critically important to the U.S. economy. Every 69 international visits supports one U.S. job.
A separate recent report from the National Travel and Tourism Office showed that visitor spending in this country is also picking up steam. As TravelPulse reported, visitors to the United States spent more than $17.3 billion on travel to,
and tourism-related activities within, the United States in April.
That’s an increase of almost 26 percent over the same month one year
earlier.
Couple relaxing on a beach in the Caribbean. (Photo Credit: cdwheatley/E+)
Outbound Tourism Approaches Pre-Pandemic Levels
Outbound tourism from the United States, meanwhile, increased 34 percent between March 2023 and one year earlier. More than 7.7 million U.S. citizens took international trips this March. That figure represents 93.1 percent of the total pre-pandemic departures in March 2019.
March 2023 was also the 24th consecutive month that total U.S. citizen international visitor departures from the United States increased on a year-over-year basis. The report also notes that:
- Mexico was the most popular destination for U.S. travelers with more than 3.1 million American citizens visiting our neighbor to the south. Visits to Mexico totaled 39.9 percent of
total departures from the United States for March 2023 and 43.2 percent of U.S. traveler volume year-to-date.
- Combined
year-to-date, Mexico and the Caribbean (at more than 8.7 million and more than 2.6 million outbound U.S. travelers respectively) accounted for
56.3 percent of the total U.S. citizen international visitor departures.
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