Blisstree » travel statistics http://www.blisstree.com Family, Health, Home and Lifestyles Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:01:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 US Travel Abroad Declines in 2008 http://www.blisstree.com/articles/us-travel-abroad-declines-in-2008/ http://www.blisstree.com/articles/us-travel-abroad-declines-in-2008/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:10:00 +0000 Mary Jo Manzanares http://www.blisstree.com/?p=97070 Post from: Blisstree

US Travel Abroad Declines in 2008

]]> 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.

Flower boxes in Tuscany The top five countries for American spending are:

  1. Mexico
  2. United Kingdom
  3. Canada
  4. Germany
  5. 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

Post from: Blisstree

US Travel Abroad Declines in 2008

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