A top tourism official with the office of the United States Trade Representative said early data show tourist arrivals to the United States are recovering and in some cases growing.
The trend is important because the U.S. tourism industry is a leading source of employment, Chris Lippert, USTR’s senior counselor, said at a panel at the National Press Club on Thursday.
Lippert said there are five key markets that have the ability to make a big difference in U.S. tourism.
“These five markets — Japan, China, India, Australia and Mexico — collectively account for 72 percent of our visitors, for our total U.S. arrivals and 43 percent of our total travel spending,” he said.
Here are statistics so far this year from Australia and Mexico on how their arrivals to the United States are faring versus their totals last year. In these two countries, overall economic prosperity is important, Lippert said, and the status of “the long hard slog of working for acceptance and integration” improves the outlook.