Foreign Visitors to U.S. Spend $20 Billion in First Half of ’89

Foreign visitors to the United States spent $20 billion in the first six months of this year, 19% more than during the same period in 1988, a Commerce Department official said today.

Based on projections for the rest of 1989, the United States should have a travel trade surplus of almost $1.2 billion, marking the first time it will have posted a full year of gains.

Rockwell Schnabel, undersecretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, said the agency’s data were compiled from a survey of air travelers from the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration.

The data show that foreign visitors spent more money in the United States than Americans spent abroad ($19.9 billion) by almost $118 million in the first six months of 1989.

Japan tourists topped the list by spending nearly $2.7 billion, an increase of 19% from the same period in 1988, followed by Canada ($2.5 billion) and Mexico ($1.5 billion).

The United States reported travel surpluses of $2.6 billion with Japan and $1.4 billion with Canada.