US international arrivals up 158.6 percent

Data recently released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) show that in August 2022, international visitor arrivals to the United States totaled 5,697,087 – an increase of 158.6% compared to August 2021.

International Arrivals to the United States

Total non-U.S. resident international visitor volume to the United States of 5,697,087 increased 158.6% compared to August 2021 and rose to 70.2% of the pre-COVID total visitor volume reported for August 2019, up from the prior month’s 67.6%.

Overseas visitor volume to the United States of 2,625,678 increased 172.6% from August 2021.

August 2022 was the seventeenth consecutive month that total non-U.S. resident international arrivals to the United States increased on a year-over-year (YOY) basis.

Of the top 20 tourist generating countries to the United States, China (PRC) (with 75,912 visitors), Ecuador (with 73,359 visitors), and Colombia (with 34,575 visitors) were the only countries that reported a decrease in visitor volume in August 2022 compared to August 2021, with a -17.5%, -16.0%, and a -13.1% change respectively.

The largest number of international visitor arrivals was from Canada (1,794,400), Mexico (1,277,009), the United Kingdom (371,994), Germany (177,029) and India (163,572). Combined, these top 5 source markets accounted for 66.4% of total international arrivals.

International Departures from the United States

Total U.S. citizen international visitor departures from the United States of 7,610,285 increased 53% compared to August 2021 and were 81% of total departures in pre-pandemic August 2019.

August 2022 was the seventeenth consecutive month that total U.S. citizen international visitor departures from the United States increased on a year-over-year basis.  

Mexico recorded the largest outbound visitor volume of 2,769,329 (36.4% of total departures for August and was 41.9% year-to-date (YTD). Canada recorded a significant year-over-year (YOY) increase of 249.7%.   

Combined YTD, Mexico (21,997,635) and the Caribbean (6,390,750) accounted for 54.1% of total U.S. citizen international visitor departures, down 1.1 percentage points from July 2022 YTD.

Europe YTD (10,203,581), the second largest outbound visitor volume, increased 289% YOY, accounting for 19.4% of all departures. This was up 0.3 percentage points from a 19.1% share in July 2022 YTD.