Real spending on travel and tourism increased by
4.3% (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) during the third quarter of 2015.
This followed an increase of 8.4% in the second quarter. In comparison, real
gross domestic product rose by 2.0% during the third quarter. The Bureau of
Economic Analysis tracks the travel and tourism industry in the United State
because it is an important source of jobs and economic activity, particularly
here in Southern California. Additionally, foreign visitors traveling to the U.S.
are an important source of export revenue.
Spending on travel-related goods and services was
$839.6 billion during the third quarter of this year, compared with $830.9
billion in the previous quarter. Spending on traveler accommodations rose by 4.0%,
while spending on transportation increased by 9.6% (passenger air
transportation was up by 13.3%). Tourism spending at restaurants and bars ticked
up by 1.0% but spending on recreation, shopping and entertainment declined by
1.7%.
Overall, prices for travel and tourism goods and
services in the third quarter edged down by 0.3%. Prices were up in a number of
sectors: accommodations (2.6%); food and drinking establishments (2.3%);
recreation and entertainment venues (1.3%) and shopping (0.8%); but those gains
were more than offset by falling prices for air transportation (-7.9%).
The travel and tourism industry has been a source
of steady job growth since the second quarter of 2010. Direct employment in
this sector increased by 2.2% during the third quarter after expanding by 1.6%
in the previous quarter. All travel-related sectors posted a gain in
employment, ranging from 4.0% for air transportation to 0.9% for traveler
accommodations. During the third quarter, nearly 5.7 million workers were
employed in the U.S. travel and tourism industry, which equated to about 4.0%
of total nonfarm employment.
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