The United States' standing as a globally competitive travel market has significantly declined due to years of underinvestment and lack of coordination from the federal government, according to the U.S. Travel Association. A recent study conducted by the association places the country 17th out of 18 leading travel markets.
The U.S. Travel Association's press release reveals that the United Kingdom topped the ranking, followed by France, Turkey, Italy, and Canada in that order. The only country that the United States managed to surpass was China.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman expressed concern over this development in the press release. "U.S. officials cannot ignore the bold, decisive steps other nations are taking to advance and modernize their travel economies," Freeman said. "The United States should aspire to lead the way into a new era of seamless and secure travel and capitalize on the many opportunities to grow this critical sector."
According to another statement from the U.S. Travel Association, they commissioned Euromonitor International to conduct this study with an aim to understand better why international inbound travel recovery in the United States is lagging and what measures can be taken for improved global traveler attraction. The study evaluated 18 top countries for global travel across four weighted categories: National Leadership; Brand and Product; Identity; Security and Facilitation; and Travel and Connectivity.
The United States received its lowest score in the National Leadership category. In most countries, a tourism minister spearheads efforts to promote inbound travel. However, in the United States, while there exists an "Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism" position, it remains unfilled with Congress yet to fully fund it. The country also scored poorly in Security and Facilitation due to lengthy wait times—averaging nearly 400 days—for visitor visa interviews.
Despite these challenges, according to another press release from U.S. Travel Association, the United States still remains "the most desired destination" for global travelers. However, its international visitor count has declined from 79 million in 2019 to an estimated 67 million in 2023. Spain and France now respectively occupy the top two spots in this category.
