US travel to international destinations surges 9 percent in 2017

The US resident outbound market reached record 87.7 million travelers in 2017, up 9 percent from 2016. The ‘outbound’ US travel market has been strong since 2014.

Travel to overseas countries (38.3. million, a record) increased 9 percent. Travel to Mexico (35.1 million), singly the largest outbound market (market share 40 percent), was up 12 percent and set a record. Travel to Canada (14.3 million) was up three percent.

The top overseas regions were Europe, up 15 percent, and the Caribbean, up 10 percent. The top overseas countries visited by US residents in 2017 were the United Kingdom (3.8 million), Dominican Republic (2.7 million), France (2.6 million), Italy (2.3 million) and Germany (2.2 million). All the top 10 destinations visited by US travelers posted increases in 2017. Travel to South and Central America was down as was travel to India and Brazil.

For more information on the 2017 US outbound market, visit the NTTO website.

You will find a detailed 2017 outbound analysis, regional and sectoral profiles, monthly air traffic, spending and visitation trends for US outbound travelers.