25 million Americans will travel overseas this summer
Published: 06 May 2008
AAA expects 25.1 million Americans to travel internationally this summer, an increase of 2.6% over the 24.5 million, who were estimated to have traveled overseas last summer.
The report includes all travel outside of the United States, including Canada and Mexico.
According to the report, which was produced by Global Insight, American travelers will be spending $30.7 billion while traveling internationally during the months of June, July and August. American spending overseas will increase by 5.7%, primarily due to inflation and the weakness of the U.S. dollar compared to several major currencies.
"Americans are working harder and longer than ever, and they feel their vacation is a benefit that they have earned," said Betsy Sell, Managing Director of Travel for AAA. "Foreign travel is still the ideal trip for many Americans, and summer is the prime season to go. So, Americans will rearrange their budgets and postpone some trips, but they are still interested in traveling abroad."
China and India are expected to see the largest increases in travel from the US this summer, with China expected to see a 13.4% increase (573,000 American travelers) and India up 13.1% (227,000 American travelers). Travel to Canada and Mexico this summer is expected to be similar to last year, with Canada expecting to see a slight drop of 0.8% (5 million American travelers) and Mexico likely increasing by 1.3% (5.8 million American travelers).
Many of the other destinations that are expected to see big increases this summer are in Europe. Travel from the US to France is expected to be up 6.7% (1.1 million American travelers), Ireland up 6.6% (337,000 American travelers), Italy up 4.7% (1.6 million American travelers) and Germany up 4.4% (724,000 American travelers). These increases are consistent with AAA's own bookings, which show a 5% increase in tours to Europe.
Americans traveling overseas will be spending more this summer due to global inflation and the weaker US dollar. The report estimates that Americans will be spending 5.7% more than they did last summer and international spending by US travelers will reach $30.7 billion. Canada and Mexico will see the largest amount of traveler spending, with American travelers planning to spend $5.6 billion in Mexico and $4 billion in Canada. The next highest destinations for traveler spending are expected to be Italy ($2.6 billion), the United Kingdom ($2.0 billion), France ($1.7 billion), Germany ($1.2 billion) and Hong Kong ($645 million).
"The potential for Americans to travel overseas is enormous," said Sell. "Americans love to travel and they have lost their anxiety about traveling internationally. Now, with more Americans required to get passports as part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), we are going to have more people looking to explore other parts of the world this summer."
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Kilgore said on 9 May 08:
I'm hoping this is true that 25 million Americans will travel internationally this summer. Without any facts in front of me or doing any online research, that figure seems high. With the US economy on the brink of a full-blown recession, it is hard to believe that Americans this year will have more disposable income than they did last year.
How does this 25 million figure relate to advance bookings by Americans? I've read somewhere that some trans-Atlantic airlines are already talking about fare cuts and specials this summer to fill the empty seats. Is that true or just wishful thinking by bargain hunters?
The drop in the dollar against the euro could be the stimulus for more Europeans to travel to the US to take advantage of lower prices. But, the draconian security measures at US airports and passport control are discouraging a measurable number of potential tourists.
Other figures that I find surprising in this news article are travel to Canada (a slight drop expected) and Mexico (a slight increase expected). With the new requirement this year that all Americans have a passport to re-enter the US from Canada and Mexico, I would expect to see a great surge in the number of international travelers. There are millions of Americans who regularly cross the border into Mexico on shopping trips -- particularly pharmaceuticals. The same is true for those Americans living near the Canadian border.
Again, I hope this prediction is accurate because it would mean that the doom and gloom news reports about the declining US economy are not to be believed.