The Office of
The Office of
More specifically, travellers coming to the U.S. on business visas were up for almost every region and several countries. This increase helped offset the decline in pleasure travellers who are most affected by downturns in the global economy. The increase in business travel also contributed to the trade surplus as business travellers spend on average more per trip than leisure travellers.
Overseas travel also remained steady with 5.5 million visitors arriving in the first quarter of 2001 with expenditures of $18.5 million. Western European arrivals declined 5 percent this quarter, totaling almost 2.2 million visitors. Most of the decline was in pleasure travel (7 percent) while business visas were up 2 percent. Spending by Western European visitors totaled $6.8 billion for the first quarter 2001, down 6 percent from first quarter last year. Arrivals from the Pacific region grew faster (4 percent) this quarter as compared to the same quarter last year. South American arrivals were also up slightly, 3 percent, compared to the same period last year. Both pleasure and business travel from Asia and South America were up for this quarter. Positive increases in other regions such as Central America (up 5 percent), Africa (up 4 percent), and the Middle East (up 7 percent) also helped the overall stability of the overseas markets.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
