101 US Tourism Statistics for 2026

How many international visitors does the US get each year?

The US took fewer international arrivals in 2025 than in 2024, as Canadian travel fell, and visits are still below the pre-pandemic level. Federal figures split this into a total that includes Canada and Mexico and an "overseas" count that leaves those two land neighbours out.

• In 2024 the US took 72.4 million international arrivals, up 9.1%, of which 35.2 million were overseas visitors, up 11.7%; total visitation that year was 91% of the 2019 level. (NTTO, Mar 2025)
• Overseas visitation in 2025 finished 2.5% below 2024, measured year to date through December. (NTTO, Jan 2026)
• The arrivals count comes from the I-94 programme, which counts visitors staying at least one night under 19 visa types and leaves out Mexican trips within the 25-mile frontier zone. (NTTO, 2026)

Total international arrivals include Canada and Mexico; the overseas figure excludes them. The two are different measures and are not added together.

How much do international visitors spend in the US?

International visitor spending held close to its 2024 level in 2025 even as arrivals fell, because spending per visitor rose. The federal figure counts it as travel and tourism exports.

• Travel (spent in country) 57%
• Medical, education, short-term work 30%
• Passenger fares 13%

• International visitor spending in 2025 was down 0.6% on 2024, a far smaller fall than in arrivals. (ITA, Jan 2026)
• Travel and tourism exports hit a record $126.9 billion in the first half of 2025, up 2.2% on the same period of 2024. (ITA, Aug 2025)
• Spending in the first half of 2026 was nearly $124.1 billion, down 0.7% on the first half of 2025, about $685 million a day. (ITA, Aug 2026)
• In June 2026 alone visitors spent more than $21.0 billion, up 2.3% on June 2025. (ITA, Aug 2026)

This spending total is travel and tourism exports on the federal trade basis, which includes passenger fares and medical, education and short-term-worker spending. It is a wider measure than the US Travel Association industry estimate of $181 billion of international inbound spend used elsewhere on this page, and the two should not be compared.

Where do visitors to the US come from?

Mexico and Canada send more visitors than anywhere else, because they share a land border. The United Kingdom is the largest overseas market. Canadian arrivals fell in 2025 before recovering through 2026.

1. 1 Mexico 1.82m
2. 2 Canada 1.58m
3. 3 United Kingdom 0.41m
4. 4 Japan 0.24m
5. 5 India 0.20m

• Canada was the second-largest source market in 2025, with 16,019,000 arrivals, a down year for Canadian travel to the US. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• The United Kingdom was the largest overseas market, with 4,058,000 arrivals. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• In the peak month of August 2025 the top five markets were Mexico (1,823,354), Canada (1,576,807), the UK (413,430), Japan (244,402) and India (204,692), together 61.8% of arrivals. (NTTO, Oct 2025)
• In October 2025 the order shifted below the top two: Mexico (1,569,052), Canada (1,222,112), the UK (426,538), Germany (192,236) and South Korea (172,459). (NTTO, Dec 2025)
• By July 2026 the neighbour markets were recovering, with Canadian arrivals up 7.6% and Mexican arrivals of 1,696,679 up 8.0% year on year. (NTTO, Sep 2026)
• The United Kingdom sent 386,960 visitors to the US in July 2026. (NTTO, Sep 2026)
• In 2024, before the larger Canadian fall of 2025, Mexican arrivals rose 17.4% while Canadian arrivals fell 1.3%. (NTTO, Mar 2025)

The Canadian decline through 2025 is given here as the official full-year level, 16.0 million arrivals, and the 2026 recovery. Figures from Statistics Canada measure return trips on a different basis and are not the same series.

Which US states get the most overseas visitors?

New York, Florida and California take the most overseas visitors, and the top five states account for well over half of all overseas visitor spending. These figures count overseas visitors only, so they leave out Canada and Mexico.

1. 1 New York 9.80m
2. 2 Florida 8.86m
3. 3 California 6.96m
4. 4 Nevada 2.64m
5. 5 Texas 2.09m
6. 6 Hawaii 1.97m
7. 7 Massachusetts 1.50m
8. 8 Illinois 1.41m

• New York also took the most overseas visitor spending of any state in 2024, $32.1 billion. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• Florida was second by overseas visits, with 8,858,000 and $25.2 billion of spending. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• California had 6,956,000 overseas visits and $26.9 billion of spending, second only to New York on spend. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• Nevada was fourth by overseas visits with 2,642,000, though at $5.16 billion its visitors spent less per head than those to New York. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• Texas was fifth with 2,087,000 overseas visits and $7.9 billion of spending, followed by Hawaii (1,974,000), Massachusetts (1,500,000) and Illinois (1,410,000). (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• Overseas visitors spent $169.8 billion across the US in 2024 and supported about 906,000 jobs; the top five states took $99.7 billion, or 58.7% of the total. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• By city, New York was the top destination for overseas visitors in 2024, with 9,525,000 on a metro-area basis. (NTTO, 2026)
• Florida had the largest rise of any state in 2024, with 927,000 more overseas visitors than the year before. (NTTO, 2026)
• Overseas visitor spending supported 156,840 jobs in New York in 2024, 132,670 in California and 124,970 in Florida. (NTTO, Apr 2026)

The overseas-only figures here are far smaller than the all-visitor totals that state tourism offices publish. Florida, for example, counts domestic travellers too, so its own total is many times its overseas count in the federal series.

How big is domestic travel compared with international?

Domestic travel is the bulk of US tourism. Americans travelling at home spent far more than international visitors, and most of the money in the hotel, transport and attractions sectors is domestic.

1. 1 Domestic leisure $876bn
2. 2 Business travel $312bn
3. 3 International inbound $181bn

• Domestic leisure spending in 2024 was 101% of the 2019 level in real terms, the only segment fully recovered. (US Travel Association, 2024)
• Business travel spending was $312 billion in 2024, split into $186 billion transient and $126 billion meetings and events, still 15% below 2019 in real terms. (US Travel Association, 2024)
• International inbound spending on the same industry basis was 83% of the 2019 level in 2024, the slowest sector to recover. (US Travel Association, 2024)
• Florida counted a record 142.9 million visitors in 2024, of whom 130.7 million were domestic, 8.9 million overseas and 3.3 million Canadian. (VISIT FLORIDA, Feb 2025)
• California was the top state for visitor spending in 2024, with a record $157.3 billion, supporting 1.2 million jobs and $12.6 billion of state and local tax. (Visit California, May 2025)
• California tourism created 24,000 new jobs in 2024. (Visit California, May 2025)

These segment figures are industry estimates from the US Travel Association, modelled by Tourism Economics, not federal statistics. The state totals are visitor counts (Florida) and visitor spend (California), two different measures.

What is tourism worth to the US economy?

Two bodies measure the value of US tourism on different bases, so both are given, not merged. The federal account runs to 2023; the industry estimate covers 2024 but counts a wider total.

• Travel directly employed 8 million Americans in 2024, on the industry estimate. (US Travel Association, 2024)
• On the industry estimate, travel was 2.5% of national GDP in 2024 and generated $89 billion in state and local tax revenue. (US Travel Association, 2024)
• In the federal satellite account, travel and tourism's share of GDP was 2.96% in 2022 and rose in 2023. (BEA, Feb 2025)
• Real travel and tourism output rose 7.0% in 2023, reaching $2.64 trillion in nominal terms. (BEA, Feb 2025)
• The federal account counted 6.5 million direct tourism jobs in 2023, part of 10.0 million total, up from 9.1 million in 2022. (BEA, Feb 2025)
• Direct tourism employment grew by 613,000 jobs in 2023, on the federal account. (BEA, Feb 2025)

The federal figures (BEA) are the official statistic but stop at 2023, and BEA has said it will no longer regularly produce them. The US Travel Association figures are 2024 industry estimates. They differ by design: 3.03% of GDP (federal, 2023) against 2.5% (industry, 2024), and 6.5 million direct jobs against 8 million. Each is shown with its own source and year.

What are the most-visited national parks and sites?

Park visits slipped in 2025 from the 2024 record but were still the second-highest on record. The Great Smoky Mountains is the most-visited of the units formally named a national park, with more than twice the visits of the next one.

1. 1 Great Smoky Mountains 11.53m
2. 2 Zion 4.98m
3. 3 Yellowstone 4.76m
4. 4 Grand Canyon 4.43m
5. 5 Yosemite 4.28m
6. 6 Rocky Mountain 4.17m
7. 7 Acadia 4.08m
8. 8 Grand Teton 3.80m
9. 9 Olympic 3.58m
10. 10 Glacier 3.14m

• Visits in 2025 were 8.85 million fewer than in 2024, a fall of 2.7% from the all-time record of about 331.9 million, linked partly to a 43-day government shutdown. (National Park Service, Nov 2026)
• 406 of the 433 park units reported visitor use in 2025, and 26 of them, 6% of reporting parks, set a new annual record. (National Park Service, Nov 2026)
• Recreation visitor hours totalled 1.39 billion in 2025, down 0.7% on 2024, and overnight stays fell 2.4%. (National Park Service, Nov 2026)
• Units named "National Park" drew 29% of all recreation visits in 2025, the largest share of any unit type. (National Park Service, Nov 2026)
• After them, national recreation areas took 15% of visits in 2025, national memorials 11% and national parkways 10%. (National Park Service, Nov 2026)
• The Blue Ridge Parkway was the single most-visited site in the whole system in 2025, with 16,533,753 recreation visits. (National Park Service, Mar 2026)
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area near San Francisco was second with 15,748,676, and Lake Mead near Las Vegas tenth with 6,135,586. (National Park Service, Mar 2026)
• Great Smoky Mountains was the most-visited national park in 2025, with 11,527,939 recreation visits, more than double the next. (National Park Service, Mar 2026)
• Zion was the second-most-visited national park with 4,984,525, Yellowstone third with 4,762,988 and Grand Canyon fourth with 4,430,653. (National Park Service, Mar 2026)
• Behind them came Yosemite (4,278,413), Rocky Mountain (4,171,431), Acadia (4,079,318), Grand Teton (3,800,648), Olympic (3,584,187) and Glacier (3,136,557). (National Park Service, Mar 2026)

A recreation visit is a defined park-service measure, not a count of individual people: one person can be counted several times. The National Park System has 433 units of many types, and the parks named "National Park" are a subset.

How many people visit the Smithsonian and the big monuments?

The Smithsonian is the largest museum complex in the country and admission is free. Its visits fell in 2025 for the second year running.

1. 1 Natural History Museum 3.3m
2. 2 Air and Space Museum 1.9m
3. 3 National Zoo 1.9m
4. 4 American History Museum 1.8m

• Smithsonian visits were 16.8 million in 2024 and 17.7 million in 2023, across its museums and the National Zoo. (Smithsonian Institution, 2024)
• The National Museum of Natural History was the most-visited Smithsonian museum in 2025, with 3.3 million visits, down from 3.9 million in 2024. (Smithsonian Institution, 2025)
• The National Air and Space Museum, partway through a renovation, had 1.9 million visits, with a further 1.0 million at its Udvar-Hazy Center. (Smithsonian Institution, 2025)
• The National Zoo had 1.9 million visits and the National Museum of American History 1.8 million. (Smithsonian Institution, 2025)
• The Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall drew 7,743,295 recreation visits in 2025, one of the most-visited monuments in the country. (National Park Service, Mar 2026)

The Smithsonian counts visits, not individual visitors. Because entry is free, one person visiting three museums counts three times, and the figures can include staff.

Which US airports are busiest?

Atlanta is the busiest US airport and routinely the busiest in the world. The figures below count passenger boardings, which are roughly half of total terminal passengers.

1. 1 Atlanta (ATL) 52.51m
2. 2 Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) 42.35m
3. 3 Denver (DEN) 40.01m
4. 4 Chicago O'Hare (ORD) 38.58m
5. 5 Los Angeles (LAX) 37.76m
6. 6 New York (JFK) 31.47m
7. 7 Charlotte (CLT) 28.52m
8. 8 Las Vegas (LAS) 28.24m
9. 9 Orlando (MCO) 27.86m
10. 10 Miami (MIA) 26.59m

• Boardings at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta rose 3.06% on 2023, keeping it ahead of every other US airport. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• Dallas-Fort Worth was second with 42,351,316 boardings, up 7.91%. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• Denver was third with 40,012,895 boardings, up 5.68%. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• Chicago O'Hare was fourth with 38,575,693 boardings, up 7.62%. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• Los Angeles was fifth with 37,760,834 boardings, the only airport in the top six to fall, down 7.8% after sitting fourth in 2023. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• New York John F Kennedy was sixth with 31,466,102 boardings, up 2.15%, the busiest in the New York area. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• Charlotte was seventh with 28,523,822 boardings, up 10.15%, the fastest growth in the top twelve. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• Las Vegas was eighth with 28,244,966 boardings, up 1.25%. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• Orlando was ninth with 27,859,783 boardings, down 0.62%, and Miami tenth with 26,588,002, up 7.57%. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• Phoenix (25,595,723, up 7.18%) and Seattle (25,414,592, up 3.34%) rounded out the twelve busiest airports. (FAA, Sep 2025)
• US commercial-service airports handled about 982.6 million passenger boardings in 2024, up 4.1% from 944.0 million in 2023. (FAA, Sep 2025)

The figures are enplanements, that is passenger boardings, the latest full year the FAA has published. They are about half of the total passenger counts airports report, which add arrivals and departures. The national total is summed from the airport-level FAA data.

How full are US hotels, and what do they cost?

US hotels had their first annual falls in occupancy and revenue since 2020 in 2025, as room rates rose more slowly than inflation. Occupancy still sits below the pre-pandemic level.

• US hotel occupancy fell 1.2% on 2024, the first annual fall since 2020. (CoStar, Jan 2026)
• The average daily room rate was $160.54, up 0.9%, below inflation and so a fall in real terms. (CoStar, Jan 2026)
• Revenue per available room fell 0.3%, though it stayed above $100 for the year. (CoStar, Jan 2026)
• Occupancy dropped almost every week from April 2025, and New York held the highest weekly occupancy in the country at about 88% in September. (CoStar, Sep 2025)

These are national hotel benchmarks from CoStar, which owns STR, the firm that measures the US hotel sector. Rates are nominal, not adjusted for inflation.

Which city hotel markets led in 2025?

New York was the strongest of the largest US hotel markets in 2025. San Francisco gained the most, while Las Vegas and Houston fell back.

1. 1 New York $280.71
2. 2 San Francisco $155.84
3. 3 Las Vegas $149.13

• New York led the top 25 US markets in 2025, with 84.1% occupancy, a $333.71 average rate and $280.71 revenue per available room. (CoStar, Jan 2026)
• San Francisco posted the biggest gains, with its average rate up 6.0% to $225.82 and revenue per available room up 11.8% to $155.84. (CoStar, Jan 2026)
• Las Vegas had the largest falls, with its average rate down 4.3% to $199.79 and revenue per available room down 10.9% to $149.13, while Houston saw occupancy drop 8.6% to 58.9%. (CoStar, Jan 2026)

How big is the US hotel industry?

The US hotel industry pays tens of billions in taxes and wages and supports millions of jobs. Its figures show domestic demand making up for a shortfall in international visitors.

• Hotel tax receipts at local, state and federal level are forecast to rise to about $87 billion in 2026. (AHLA, Jan 2026)
• Hotels paid about $128 billion in wages and benefits in 2025 and employed 2.2 million people directly. (AHLA, Jan 2026)
• Hotel guest spending is forecast to reach nearly $805 billion in 2026, up 1.7% on 2025. (AHLA, Jan 2026)
• Occupancy in 2025 was about 5% below pre-pandemic levels, with domestic travel demand 21.1% above pre-pandemic but international visitation 17% below 2019; hotel insurance costs were up 111% since 2019. (AHLA, Jan 2026)

These are figures from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, a trade body, modelled by Oxford Economics, not official statistics. The 2026 guest-spending and tax numbers are projections.

When is the US busiest for international visitors?

International arrivals peak in the northern summer, with August the busiest month. Through 2025 arrivals ran below the year before every month, the slump that forced the forecast down.

• August 2025 was the busiest month for arrivals, at 6,893,068, down 8.3% on August 2024 and 84.9% of the August 2019 level; the overseas share was 3,492,907, down only 2.9%. (NTTO, Oct 2025)
• October 2025 arrivals were 5,846,506, down 5.7% on the year, with the overseas share 3,055,342, down 3.1%. (NTTO, Dec 2025)
• By July 2026 total arrivals had steadied at 6,248,242, down just 0.1% on July 2025, though overseas arrivals that month were still down 7.0%. (NTTO, Sep 2026)

The 2025 fall in total arrivals was driven more by the drop in Canadian travel, which is not in the overseas count, than by the overseas markets, where monthly declines were smaller. The 2026 steadying came as the neighbour markets recovered.

What is the outlook for US inbound travel?

Federal forecasters expect international arrivals to grow from 2026, helped by the FIFA World Cup, and to pass the previous all-time high by 2029. This outlook replaced an earlier, higher estimate for 2025.

View data table

NTTO forecast path for total international arrivals, 2025 to 2030, in millions.

Period	Value
2025	68.3m
2026	70.5m
2027	74.1m
2028	78.7m
2029	82.3m
2030	85.2m

• Growth is forecast to pick up to 5.2% in 2027, taking arrivals to 74.1 million, and to 6.1% in 2028, reaching 78.7 million. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• Arrivals are projected to reach 85.2 million by 2030, up 25% on 2025, passing the previous record with an all-time high of 82.3 million in 2029. (NTTO, Apr 2026)
• Growth in 2026 is expected across most markets, with Mexico up 5.8%, Canada 3.8%, the UK 3.5% and Germany 2.1%, while India is forecast to fall 4.1% and France about 1%. (NTTO, Apr 2026)

This April 2026 forecast replaced an earlier one that had projected 77.1 million arrivals for 2025. The 2025 estimate was revised down to 68.3 million to reflect the year's inbound slump, so the 77.1 million figure is out of date.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from federal statistics bodies (NTTO and ITA for arrivals and spending, BEA for tourism GDP and jobs, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian and the FAA), from the firm that benchmarks the hotel sector (CoStar, which owns STR), and from state tourism offices. Industry-body estimates from the US Travel Association and the American Hotel and Lodging Association are labelled as such and kept separate from federal figures. Each number links to the body that produced it, with the date. Measures that count different things, such as overseas against total international arrivals, federal against industry economic estimates, and boardings against total passengers, are given side by side and not merged. The federal tourism satellite account currently stops at 2023, which is stated where used. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.

• AHLA · Jan 2026
• BEA · Feb 2025
• CoStar · Jan 2026
• CoStar · Sep 2025
• FAA · Sep 2025
• ITA · Jan 2026
• ITA · Aug 2025
• ITA · Aug 2026
• National Park Service · Mar 2026
• National Park Service · Nov 2026
• NTTO · Apr 2026
• NTTO · Apr 2026
• NTTO · Mar 2025
• NTTO · Jan 2026
• NTTO · 2026
• NTTO · Oct 2025
• NTTO · Dec 2025
• NTTO · Sep 2026
• NTTO · 2026
• Smithsonian Institution · 2025
• US Travel Association · 2024
• Visit California · May 2025
• VISIT FLORIDA · Feb 2025