U.S. Travel Association Senior Vice President for Government Relations Tori Barnes issued the following statement upon the National Travel and Tourism Office’s announcement that it will suspend I-94 data releases on overseas arrivals to the U.S.:
“With international inbound travel being such a critical component of the U.S. trade balance and jobs base, the stakes are very high to have an accurate data picture of overseas visitors to our country. We appreciate CBP’s and the Commerce Department’s commitment to getting this right.
“Even if changes to the official federal data reveal stronger numbers of visitors to the U.S. in 2017 than previously reported, the fact will remain that while international travel is spiking globally, the U.S. is losing share of that growing market to our competitors around the world. The American travel economy is too important to the president’s goals of strong domestic employment and a more favorable U.S. trade balance to allow that trend to continue. That’s why the U.S. Travel Association has joined the Visit U.S. Coalition along with 14 other industry groups to partner with the administration in addressing the market share decline that has been going on since 2015.”
