Business and tourism travel had $2.1 trillion economic impact on U.S. in 2015

Domestic and international travelers spent close to $1 trillion and supported more than 8.1 million jobs within the United States last year. The exact total spent was $947 million while total travel-related employment was over 15.1 million.

In addition to goods and services purchased directly by travelers, the inputs used to produce these goods and services are also purchased through travel business operators – called “indirect travel output.” As a result of spending in the areas by the employees of travel businesses and their suppliers, additional sales are generated – “induced output.”

Total travel related output was $2.1 trillion in 2015.

These were some of the largest findings from the newly released U.S. Travel and Tourism Overview for 2015 from the U.S. Travel Association.

Compared to 2014, U.S. domestic travel increased 3.3% with 2.2 billion person-trips in 2015. Domestic leisure travel, which includes visits to friends and relatives as well as trips taken for outdoor recreation and entertainment purposes, enjoyed a larger increase of 3.6% to 1.7 billion person-trips. (A person-trip is defined as one person on a trip away from home overnight in paid accommodations, or on a day or overnight trip to places 50 miles or more, one-way, away from home.)

International inbound travelers, including visitors from overseas, Canada and Mexico, made 77.5 million visits to the United States in 2015, while international travel spending continued to show a nearly $23 billion surplus over the same period.

Travelers spent $235.4 billion on food services, which accounted for 24.9% of total travelers’ spending.