Real spending on tourism (spending adjusted for price changes) decreased at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in 2008:1, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, reflecting steep declines in spending on accommodations and passenger air transportation. In 2007:4, real spending on tourism grew 2.3 percent (revised). By comparison, real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 0.9 percent (preliminary) in 2008:1 and 0.6 percent in 2007:4.

Real spending on accommodations turned down sharply, decreasing 10.8 percent in 2008:1 after increasing 12.1 percent (revised) in 2007:4. Real spending on passenger air transportation also turned down, decreasing 5.6 percent in 2008:1 after increasing 2.1 percent in 2007:4. Prices for accommodations increased slightly (0.9 percent) in 2008:1 after declining (1.9 percent) in the previous quarter. Prices for passenger air transportation accelerated, increasing 4.7 percent in 2008:1 after increasing just 1.3 percent (revised) the previous quarter.

Employment supported directly by tourist spending rose 2.8 percent in 2007:4 (the most recent period for which data are available). In 2007:3, employment grew 0.9 percent (revised). By comparison, overall U.S. employment grew 0.8 percent in 2007:4 and 2007:3.

Also:

• Real spending on recreation and entertainment slowed further, declining 6.6 percent in 2008:1 after declining 3.6 percent (revised) in 2007:4.
• Prices for all tourism goods and services continued to increase steadily, 4.8 percent in 2008:1, 4.8 percent in 2007:4, and 4.7 percent in 2007:3.
• Retail shopping by travelers grew slightly in 2008:1.

Real Tourism Spending. In 2008:1, passenger air transportation decreased 5.6 percent, while accommodations decreased 10.8 percent. In 2007:4, passenger air transportation increased 2.1 percent while accommodations increased 12.1 percent.

 

Tourism Prices. Prices for passenger air transportation increased 4.7 percent in 2008:1 after increasing just 1.3 percent in 2007:4. Prices for accommodations increased slightly 0.9 percent in 2008:1 after declining 1.9 percent in 2007:4.

 

Tourism Employment. Employment in air transportation services increased 3.9 percent in 2007:4, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of growth. Employment in accommodations grew 4.7 percent in 2007:4 after a decline of 0.1 percent in 2007:3.

NEXT RELEASE - Travel and Tourism Estimates for 2008:2 will be released on Wednesday, September 24, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Although the June 18, 2008, news release previously stated that, due to budget constraints, BEA would be discontinuing production of quarterly travel and tourism estimates, funding for these estimates has been secured for fiscal year 2009, and they will not be discontinued.

Travel and Tourism Estimates are supported by funding from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Total Tourism-Related Spending. The U.S. production that tourism spending generates not only includes the goods and services that are purchased directly but also the inputs used to produce these goods and services—indirect tourism-related spending.  In 2008:1, total current-dollar tourism-related spending of $1.4 trillion consisted of $768.8 billion (57 percent) of direct tourism spending—goods and services sold directly to visitors—and $591.4 billion (43 percent) of indirect tourism-related spending—goods and services used to produce what visitors buy.

Total Tourism-Related Employment. In 2007:4, total tourism-related employment of 8.6 million consisted of 5.9 million (69 percent) direct tourism jobsjobs where workers produce goods and services sold directly to visitorsand 2.7 million (31 percent) indirect tourism-related jobsjobs where workers produce goods and services used to produce what visitors buy.

NEXT RELEASE - Travel and Tourism Estimates for 2008:2 will be released on Wednesday, September 24, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Although the June 18, 2008, news release previously stated that, due to budget constraints, BEA would be discontinuing production of quarterly travel and tourism estimates, funding for these estimates has been secured for fiscal year 2009, and they will not be discontinued.

Travel and Tourism Estimates are supported by funding from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Definitions

Tourism spending. Tourism spending comprises all goods and services purchased by tourists (defined as people who travel for any reason). In the following tables, tourism spending is referred to as direct tourism output.

Indirect tourism-related spending. Indirect tourism-related spending comprises all output used as inputs in the process of producing direct tourism output (e.g., toiletries for hotel guests and the plastic used to produce souvenir key chains).

Total tourism-related spending. Total tourism-related spending is the sum of direct tourism spending and indirect tourism-related spending.

Direct tourism employment. Direct tourism employment comprises all jobs where the workers are engaged in the production of direct tourism output (such as hotel staff, airline pilots, and souvenir sellers).

Indirect tourism-related employment. Indirect tourism-related employment comprises all jobs where the workers are engaged in the production of indirect tourism-related output (e.g., employees of companies that produce toiletries for hotel guests and the plastic used to produce souvenir key chains).

Total tourism-related employment. Total tourism-related employment is the sum of direct tourism employment and indirect tourism-related employment.

 

These estimates are from BEAs Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts (TTSAs), which are supported by funding from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The current-price estimates of direct tourism output were derived from BEAs annual TTSAs (revised in June 2008) and from current-price quarterly estimates of personal consumption expenditures from the NIPAs. The constant-price estimates of direct tourism output were developed using price indexes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and constant-price quarterly estimates of personal consumption expenditures from the NIPAs. The estimates of direct tourism employment were derived from the annual TTSAs (revised in June 2008) and the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages from BLS. Employment data are available five to six months after the end of the reference quarter.

Quarterly estimates are expressed at seasonally adjusted annual rates, unless otherwise specified. Percent changes are calculated from unrounded data and annualized. Real estimates are in chained (2000) dollars. Price indexes are chain-type measures. Growth in overall U.S. employment is calculated using BLS Total nonfarm employment from Current Employment Statistics, www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm#data.

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