Tourism Boosts U.S. Economy

More than 50 million foreign tourists travel to the United States each year.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

For Leon Goldberg, the used clothes piling up at the lost-and-found at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel at Times Square are the latest sign that tourists are spending.

“People come over with empty suitcases, and we see them leave with full suitcases,” while abandoning their older garments, said Goldberg, director of sales and marketing at the 1,957-room hotel.

Spending by overseas visitors on everything from airfares to hotel stays climbed 8.1 percent over the 12 months ended in May to $13.9 billion, figures from the Commerce Department show. The increase was almost double the 4.2 percent gain in total exports.

Purchases by foreign tourists count as exports, which have been among the mainstays of the three-year economic expansion.

More Latin American and Asian visitors are offsetting a slowdown in trips from Europe, where a weaker euro is making travel to the United States more expensive. The pickup in tourism, which Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called a “bright spot” in the economy, is benefiting companies such as San Francisco Shuttle Tours, Marriott International Inc., City Pass and bolstering the labor market. Read more….

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