U.S. Travel and Tourism Industry Trends

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has provided fourth-quarter 2005 current-dollar measures and first-time price and quantity measures of tourism activity.

In the fourth quarter, real tourism output (price-adjusted “direct tourism sales”) grew 5.1 percent, following an increase of 1.4 percent in the third quarter (seasonally adjusted at annual rates).

Real output of goods and services sold to visitors grew 4.8 percent in 2005, down from 6.2 percent in 2004, according to data released by the BEA.

Average employment of workers directly engaged in the production of goods and services sold to visitors (“direct tourism employment”) increased 1.3 percent through the first three quarters of 2005, following annual growth of 1.3 percent in 2004. In the third quarter of 2005, the most recent period for which data are available, direct tourism employment grew 0.2 percent (seasonally adjusted at annual rates).

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