Travel to the U.S. is in rude health and outperforming expectations, a trade audience in London was told this week.
Speaking at Brand USA Travel Week (October 21-23), which saw over 350 U.S. cities, states and regions and their supplier partners showcase their tourism products, Brand USA’s new president and CEO, Fred Dixon said the country was “no longer talking about recovery but was talking about new records”.
Dixon said the U.S. was on track to record almost 77 million international arrivals in 2024, and was on a path to set a record for the forecasted 87 million arrivals by the end of next year.
“This puts us on pace to exceed the National Travel and Tourism Strategy goal of 90 million visitors yearly by 2026,” he said.
Dixon said Europe and the U.K. remained the top source markets for travellers to the U.S., with 2024 projected to close with 15 million European arrivals – up 1.6 million year-over-year.
And next year was 2025 expected to bring a new record of nearly 17 million European visitors.
Dixon said consumer sentiment was “strong”, with Brand USA research showing that for 11 key European markets the U.S. was the number one long-haul destination on their bucket list for the next 12 months.
The amount visitors are spending in the U.S. is also increasing and now exceeds 2019 levels across all 15 of the top European inbound markets, with visitor spend highest from the U.K. market (at $14bn), followed by Germany, France and Italy.
Dixon said research had also found that visitors were looking beyond the country’s gateway cities, such as New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, with nearly half of future travellers planning to visit two to three cities on their next trip to the U.S., and 43 per cent of visitors returning to explore new areas.
“This tells us something exciting: visitors aren’t just sticking to the well-known gateway cities – they’re eager to explore beyond those iconic cities and experiences,” he said.
Visitor growth over the next few years would be a fuelled by several major events.
These include WorldPride in Washington DC next year, celebrations in several states around the 250th anniversary of American independence (known as America250), the 100th anniversary of Route 66 and the FIFA World Cup in 2026; the 2028 Summer and 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Travel Week attracted a record number of more than 70 heads of U.S. tourism organisations along with 216 tour operators and 74 media from several European countries.
The three-day event featured planning meetings, high-level industry debate, trade appointments, “enrichment sessions” – which this year included a discussion on how AI will help shape travel research and booking arrangements – and various evening events.
It will again be staged in London next year before returning to the European continent in 2026. Travel Week was last held outside of London in 2022, in Frankfurt.
