Int'l travel

I guess it depends on who you ask. Yesterday's post had results of a poll that said the G8 countries are pretty fed up with everything U.S. Then this morning, the Travel Industry Association of America said that things were looking up for inbound international travelers.

After falling steadily for three years, international arrivals to the U.S. are forecast to rise 7.5 percent this year and nearly 5 percent in 2005. This translates into more than 43 million international arrivals by the end of this year and almost 46 million in 2005. However, these numbers remain well below the record high of 51 million in 2000. International traveler spending in the U.S. is projected to increase 11.2 percent by year end, to nearly $72 billion and increase nearly 8 percent in 2005 to over $77 billion. Once again, these spending levels are well below the $82 billion spent by international visitors in 2000.

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