MEDIA RELEASE

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced that 60 million international visitors traveled to the United States in 2010, a 9 percent increase over 2009.

In 2010, the top inbound markets continued to be Canada and Mexico, both of which were up in arrivals, along with all top inbound overseas regional markets.

Highlights

* In 2010, overseas resident visits (26 million) were up one percent compared to 2000, creating a new record level of overseas visits for the United States.

* Overseas resident visits were up 11 percent compared to 2009.
Top 15 Countries

* In 2010, 14 of the top 15 countries posted increases in visitation to the United States. In 2010, the United Kingdom posted the only decline, registering a one percent decrease when compared to 2009.

* In 2010, nine of the top 15 countries posted record visitation to the United States: Canada, France, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Italy, the People’s Republic of China, India and Colombia.

National Export Initiative

To improve conditions that directly affect the private sector’s ability to export and to boost employment recovery, on March 11, 2010 President Obama created the National Export Initiative (NEI).

The automation of the arrival/departure form [CBP Form I-94W] for Visa Waiver Program travelers supports this initiative as the automated form greatly improves the measurement of international arrival data to the United States.

— Find out more:
National Export Initiative: www.trade.gov/nei/index.asp
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/