China tourism stall leads to U.S. drop in foreign visitor spending
2019/3/7 17:42:33
Lackluster growth in visitors to the United States is hitting the country where it hurts, according to a new report.
Research from the World Travel & Tourism Council shows that spending by international visitors dropped nearly 1% year-over-year to $198.8 billion. That is largely due to a lack of growth in visitors from China, whose dollars makes up roughly 11% of all spending.
“After recording 10 years of stellar growth, international visitor numbers from China were flat year on year, caused in part by the deteriorating trade relations between the two countries,” Gloria Guevara, the council’s president and CEO, said in a statement released Wednesday. “Given the economic importance of Chinese visitors, any thawing in the trade relations between the two countries would have a positive effect for the wider U.S. economy.”
The World Travel & Tourism Council partnered with Tourism Economics for its research. The council said 79.9 million international visitors came to the United States last year, with that number expected to increase to 82.5 million this year. Of the visitors in 2018, 3% were Chinese, a spokeswoman said.