US Travel Abroad Declines in 2008
June 30, 2009 by Mary Jo Manzanares
Filed under Home & Living
Recent statistics released by the US Department of Commerce showed a drop in US travel abroad. The drop of 1% is the first decline since 2002, Travel to Canada declined by 7% and increased to Mexico by 4%. Interestingly enough, though the number of travelers was down, spending was up by 7% setting a new record for the fifth consecutive year.
The top five countries for American spending are:
- Mexico
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Germany
- Japan
We set new spending records in Germany, Japan, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, Netherlands and Argentina.
Since I’m currently traveling in Europe, I found these numbers interesting.
I think they indicate that we are still traveling, and that we are working travel expenditures into our budgets. Economic times may have shifted our traveling priorities – fewer trips, heavier importance on value for our dollar spent, more cautious travel expenditures, etc. — but we still think spending money to see the world is important.
I think traveling broadens the mind in exposing us to cultures and places where things are not just like home. It’s a big beautiful world out there!
Are you still traveling? How has the economy impacted your travel choices?
Photo credit: personal collection
We are, but we’ve never been the type to spontaneously travel. It’s always been in our budget at the beginning of the year. We also are lucky because our airline miles and hotel points help us get to some of the places we do. If we didn’t have those, some things would be cut out.