The beautiful city of Orlando hosted the U.S. Travel Association's annual IPW Bringing the World to America marketplace this week. IPW is the world's largest travel and tourism trade show.
Over the past few days, 1,350 potential international customers met with 1,100 American companies and bought approximately $4.7 billion dollars in products and services such as helicopter rides over the Grand Canyon, hotel accommodations in Dallas and motor-coach tours across the country. From Times Square in New York City to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and from the Keys in Florida to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, America was showcased as the best travel destination in the world.
In 2014, nearly 75 million people from around the world visited the United States, spending $221.6 billion on hotels, cars, food, and entertainment, and supporting 1.1 million American jobs. The Obama administration recognizes the tremendous value that travel and tourism generates for the U.S. economy, but we are not alone in the global competition to attract international visitors. As advances in technology and transportation have made it easier than ever for the world's 1 billion travelers to embark on memorable journeys, we want to ensure that America is their top pick.
To that end, President Obama launched the first-ever National Travel and Tourism Strategy, setting the ambitious goal of welcoming 100 million international visitors to our shores in 2021. As secretary of commerce and chair of the administration's Tourism Policy Council, I work with my fellow Cabinet secretaries across the government to improve how we welcome an ever-increasing number of international visitors to the United States.
We have successfully reduced visa wait times at our embassies and consulates around the world and instituted Trusted Traveler Programs like Global Entry, which expedites the entry of pre-approved, low-risk American citizens and lawful permanent residents into the country. To date, more than 3.8 million people have enrolled in our Trusted Traveler programs. The administration has also expanded the Visa Waiver Program to 38 countries, and now 59 percent of America's visitors originate from these countries.
With China in particular, a country whose citizens are traveling to the U.S. in much greater numbers, we recently expanded visa validity from one to 10 years. The United States welcomed 2.19 million visitors from China in 2014, a 21 percent increase over 2013. In the five months since visa validity extension was announced, we have seen Chinese demand for U.S. visas grow by more than 50 percent.
Recently, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and I released a report including Airport Action Plans that will simplify and streamline the entry for visitors at 17 of our top U.S. airports. In addition, in recent days the Department of Homeland Security began negotiations with nine new countries to expand the pre-clearance list, so international visitors from these countries will enjoy a faster and more efficient entry experience.
All of these policy changes from the administration were developed in coordination with private-sector leaders who understand both the needs of visitors and how to improve our processes to make coming to America a first-class experience. With the average international traveler spending $3,068 each U.S. visit, vacation centers like Orlando will surely benefit from our administration's focus on ensuring that more visitors pick the United States as their destination of choice. We look forward to welcoming them when they do.
Penny Pritzker is U.S. secretary of commerce.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
