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Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Industry
The United States leads the world in international travel and tourism exports such as accommodations, food services and drinking places, and air transportation.

SelectUSA Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Industry

Industry Overview

According to the National Travel and Tourism Office, expenditures by international visitors in the United States were $213.1 billion in 2023, and the U.S. received the over 66 million international visitors.  Travel exports supported 1.6 million U.S. jobs in 2023. That same year, U.S. travel exports represented 7 percent of the total U.S. exports of goods and services.   

Industry Subsectors


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In 2023, the total FDI in the U.S. accommodations industry was $7.4 billion. In 2022, foreign-owned businesses employed 41,500 workers in the accommodations industry. According to the latest figures for U.S. employment, there were over 1.9 million employees in the accommodations industry in mid-2024. There were also 71,387 establishments in the accommodations industry across the United States in 2022. 

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Around $22 billion was invested from around the world in the U.S. food services and drinking places industry in 2023, and foreign-owned businesses employed 602,400 people in 2022. According to the latest employment figures, there were over 12.3 million people employed in the food services and drinking places industry in mid-2024. In 2022, there were 700,469 establishments in the food services and drinking places industry. 

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There was $371 million in foreign direct investment into the U.S. air transportation industry in 2021, and foreign-owned businesses in the air transportation industry employed 9,200 people in 2022. According to the latest employment figures, there were over 575,000 employees in the air transportation industry in mid-2024. As of 2022, there were 4,645 establishments in the air transportation industry. 
 

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Additional Information

Explore the impact of foreign direct investment on U.S. jobs, exports, and innovation in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry.

More Information →
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Investor Guide

The Investor Guide is a high-level view of everything from taxes to immigration and workforce to business structures.

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SelectUSA Stats

SelectUSA has created several dashboards to help analyze key FDI data from a variety of sources.

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Industry Associations
A comprehensive list of associations in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry.
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Incentives
Browse this state incentives database developed by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER).
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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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