The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) last week released its preliminary estimate of international and overseas arrivals for the month of May 2015, which show unusually high year-over-year increases in arrivals from some key overseas source markets that seem to challenge what most observers in the inbound tourism industry had expected. The figures are preliminary, of course, and they come midst a period in which NTTO is revising its procedures. Preliminary figures for June 2015 are due out next month. In previous years, these data were available about 80 days following the month in question, but the numbers have been well behind that target for the past year because of problems at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the processing of the raw data, which are collected via the I-94 forms that travelers to the U.S. fill out.
Arrivals from Top 15 Overseas Markets, plus Canada and Mexico May 2015 and Year-to-Date (January thru May 2015)
| Country/ | Year-to-Date | % change vs. same | Month May 2015 | % Change vs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market | through May 2015 | period 2014 | May-14 | |
| A1. UK | 1,698,207 | -4.70% | 454,759 | 22.70% |
| 2. Japan | 1,437,194 | 2.30% | 290,367 | 12.50% |
| 3. China | 943,729 | 19.00% | 222,224 | 21.70% |
| 4. Brazil | 940,743 | 2.80% | 187,931 | -0.20% |
| 5. Germany | 852,124 | 14.00% | 244,067 | 28.80% |
| 6. South Korea | 668,066 | 21.70% | 152,877 | 28.70% |
| 7. France | 662,068 | 4.10% | 169,995 | 11.50% |
| 8. Australia | 517,830 | 11.30% | 143,033 | 19.30% |
| 9. India | 454,092 | 19.80% | 159,901 | 20.80% |
| 10. Italy | 332,818 | 4.10% | 83,634 | 19.70% |
| 11. Argentina | 302,501 | -3.90% | 70,419 | 11.60% |
| 12. Colombia | 290,701 | 0.20% | 66,269 | -0.10% |
| 13. Netherlands | 264,228 | 11.50% | 79,589 | 28.00% |
| 14. Spain | 251,218 | 7.50% | 59,529 | 14.90% |
| 15. Sweden | 233,343 | 8.20% | 46,304 | 4.40% |
| Canada | 8,823,383 | -4.70% | 1,835,919 | -5.80% |
| Mexico | 7,005,576 | 7.30% | 1,559,509 | 11.80% |
| Total Overseas | 14,010,075 | 8.50% | 3,452,170 | 15.10% |
| Total International | 7,005,576 | 7.30% | 6,847,598 | 8.00% |
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, National Travel and Tourism Office from the Summary of International Travel to the U.S. (I-94)
