The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries recently published its annual United States Travel and Tourism Exports, Imports, and the Balance of Trade report for 2009. The report shows that total international visitor spending in the United States dropped precipitously in 2009, resulting in a record-setting year-over-year decline of nearly $21 billion (15%).

• International visitors spent $121.1 billion in the United States in 2009, averaging nearly $1.7 billion less a month than was spent in 2008.
• U.K. visitors spent nearly $5 billion less (down 27%) in the United States in 2009 than they spent in 2008. The decline in total U.K. visitor spending surpasses the declines from Africa and the entire Asia/Pacific region combined.
• Every single country and region reported suffered declines in total travel and tourism-related spending in the United States, except Brazil. Spending by Brazilian residents increased 2 percent in 2009, spending a record-setting $4.2 billion on travel and tourism-related goods and services.
• Americans curtailed their travel-related spending, too, spending nearly 12 percent less while traveling abroad in 2009. This produced a $22 billion trade surplus for travel and tourism, about $7 billion less favorable than in 2008.