us travel
Travel Prices Decline, Lead the Way for Overall Economy
U.S. Travel Association | July 15, 2024
WASHINGTON - Thursday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) release for June reveals an encouraging trend: Inflation is easing across the board—and travel-related goods and services are at the forefront. For the second month in a row, prices throughout the travel sector have fallen, and at a steeper rate than the overall economy. According to the U.S. Travel calculated Travel Price Index (TPI), prices decreased an impressive 1.4% from the previous month, led by lower hotel, airline and gas prices. In contrast, the overall economy saw a modest 0.1% decrease, the first monthly decline since 2020. Comparisons month-to-month, year-over-year, and ...
U.S. Travel Association’s Commission on Seamless and Secure Travel Identifies Five Bold Steps to Boost National Travel Competitiveness and Benefit V
U.S. Travel Association | June 19, 2024
Expert panel will urge U.S. government to advance emerging security initiatives between the United States, United Kingdom and other nations to address travel pain points WASHINGTON (June 19, 2024)— The United States stands on the cusp of major, long-awaited innovations in travel security and facilitation—developments that will enhance the country’s ability to more aggressively compete for global travelers and reverse a lagging rate of recovery as other nations excel, according to work underway by the Commission on Seamless and Secure Travel and the U.S. Travel Association. “It’s time for U.S. officials to make a leap forward an...
Taking the “Swift Lift” Overseas
U.S. Travel Association | May 24, 2024
By Joshua Friedlander This summer, millions of Americans will travel to Europe, many to visit historical cities and one-of-a-kind beaches like Sitges, Biarritz, Tropea and Mykonos. But in Europe this year there is another one-of-a-kind attraction drawing travelers from the States in record numbers—the European leg of Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour. Taylor's record-setting concerts across the U.S. in 2023 made fans and economists alike rethink the impact an artist can have on a city or region. With ticket prices regularly reaching 4-digit levels, and fans traveling distances reminiscent of festivals like Coachella, the economic impac...
Memorial Day Travel Expected to Break Records
U.S. Travel Association | May 22, 2024
Memorial Day Weekend – May 25-27 – is the unofficial kick-off of summer and it is expected to kick start what will be a record-breaking summer travel season. Booking data reveals that theme park and entertainment venues like Orlando and Las Vegas continue to captivate travelers' interest, alongside sunny locales such as Fort Lauderdale, Southern California and Miami. Urban destinations including New York, Denver and Boston also rank high among Memorial Day getaway choices. Both roads and airports will be extremely busy – here’s more on what’s expected for this record-breaking weekend. Road Travel AAA forecasts almost 44 million ...
At U.S. Travel’s IPW, Leaders Say Government Must Increase Focus to Achieve Travel Growth
U.S. Travel Association | May 7, 2024
LOS ANGELES - At U.S. Travel’s IPW – the largest generator of international inbound travel to the United States – association President and CEO Geoff Freeman shared a vision to make travel a national priority, solve barriers to visitation growth, and become the most-visited nation in the world. “It should be our national goal to be nothing short of number one in terms of visitor arrivals, visitor spend and visitor experience,” Freeman said. “But our ambitions are constrained by excessively long wait times for visitor visas, often-lengthy waits at customs, and an air traffic control system that is challenged to meet demand. A...
U.S. Travel Applauds Much-Needed Funding to Lower Visitor Visa Wait Times
U.S. Travel Association | March 28, 2024
WASHINGTON (March 27, 2024)—U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the passage of government spending package H.R.2882, which included $50 million in funding for the U.S. Department of State to reduce visitor visa interview wait times: “U.S. Travel applauds Congress for directing funding to address excessive visitor visa interview wait times, which currently average 400 days in top source markets. The State Department must now deploy these resources as quickly as possible to lower wait times and facilitate growth in inbound visitation. “F...
Stunning New Research Ranks United States Nearly Dead Last in Competition for Global Travelers
U.S. Travel Association | January 11, 2024
Due to slow recovery and declining U.S. global travel market share, U.S. Travel Association commissioned Euromonitor International to assess the competitiveness of the U.S. relative to other top countries for global travel. The U.S. ranked 17th out of 18 countries analyzed, stemming from decades of underinvestment and a lack of focus and coordination from the federal government. Inefficiencies in the U.S. travel system threaten the economy. One example: The U.S. risks losing 39 million visitors and $150 billion in spending over the next 10 years due to excessive visitor visa wait times (Tourism Economics). U.S. Travel launch...
U.S. Travel Hires RIAA Executive Joshua Friedlander as Head of Research
U.S. Travel Association | January 10, 2024
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Travel Association announced today that Joshua P. Friedlander will join the organization as vice president of research, a critical role that will further strengthen the association’s research and analysis capabilities. He will begin with the association on January 16. “In our work to prove the indispensable contributions of travel, Josh will provide the market insights that our industry and our many constituents need to inform their understanding and decision-making,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “Josh’s deep background in research analysis will give a boost to our in...