The U.S. travel industry made great strides in 2022 as it works its way back to pre-pandemic levels of spend. The good news: At $1.2 trillion, direct spending on travel in the United States in 2022 was on par with pre-pandemic figures, according to new data released by the U.S. Travel Association—reflecting the industry’s essential contributions to the American economy. On the flip side: When adjusting for inflation, overall travel spending remained down 14 percent in 2022.
To focus on the positives, however, that $1.2 trillion in spend produced an economic footprint of $2.6 trillion. In addition, in 2022, travel supported nearly 15 million American workers—with 8 million directly employed by the travel industry. Travel spending generated nearly $160 billion in total tax revenue, including $84 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2022. At the same time, travel-generated tax revenue alleviated an average of $1,270 in taxes per U.S. household.
Another positive was that domestic leisure contributed $837 billion to the economy, meaning it has recovered 99 percent of its pre-pandemic levels (adjusted for inflation).
“Travel rebounded strongly in 2022 thanks to robust demand for domestic leisure travel,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman. “Now, we must focus on fully restoring the international and business travel segments to continue growing this critical driver of the U.S. economy.”
Where there’s room for progress: Travel’s surplus in 2022 was just $3 billion, which is down significantly from the peak of $86 billion in 2015. International inbound travel in 2022 was just 55 percent recovered. Business travel also continues to lag behind leisure travel: Domestic business travel was 74 percent recovered last year. And, as for employment, nearly 2 million jobs in the industry remain open as of early 2023.
To aid the full recovery of the sector, the U.S. Travel Association and nearly 250 travel industry leaders met with federal policymakers during the association’s annual legislative fly-in, Destination Capitol Hill. Delegate meetings were scheduled with 230 members of Congress and their offices to discuss how travel drives economic growth and creates jobs within their respective communities, as well as legislative priorities to grow all sectors of the U.S. travel industry. U.S. Travel top legislative priorities are as follows:
- Fully fund the office of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism.
- Lower visitor visa wait times.
- Provide H-2B cap relief to address travel workforce shortfalls.
- Advance Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization priorities.
“Travel’s success is the nation’s success; these priorities are not just important to our industry, but to the future of the U.S. economy,” said Freeman.
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