Out of nowhere, it seemed, the number of international arrivals to the United States made China rank number 10 in the monthly advance release of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office and its latest tally of Top 20 country source markets for overseas visitors to the United States. The sudden appearance for the month also propelled China to No. 18 for year-to-date arrivals.
On their face, the numbers from China are not that impressive. But they indicate that China’s slow and steady step-by-step opening of boundaries in key markets seem to have worked in opening the world up to more overseas Chinese travel. Whether or not the increased travel activity has anything to do with the opening next month (Oct. 15th) of the 20th quinquennial edition of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party would be nothing but a matter of conjecture.
The point is that, for the thousands of U.S. travel marketers and destinations prepared to show Chinese travel consumers what they’ve got that … China is back.
Other than the news of China’s resurgence, the rhythm of the market seems to be settling into place, with the UK once again the number one overseas market for those selling Visit USA product and, for the moment, the number one market from continental Europe, Germany, in place as second overall European overseas source market.
And from this point, the reader is encouraged to digest and analyze the latest batch of numbers from NTTO.
Top 20 Overseas Tourist-Generating Countries
Month of August 2022
| Country of Residence & Rank | Number of Arrivals | % Change vs. 2021 |
| 1. United Kingdom | 371,994 | 1699.5% |
| 2. Germany | 177,029 | 861.8% |
| 3. India | 163,572 | 142.1% |
| 4. France | 160,378 | 1010.0% |
| 5. Italy | 130,757 | 1192.4% |
| 6. South Korea | 111,670 | 282.3% |
| 7. Spain | 111,396 | 650.0% |
| 8. Brazil | 99,724 | 471.8% |
| 9. Japan | 87,910 | 419.2% |
| 10. China, PRC | 75,912 | (17.5%) |
| 11. Colombia | 73,359 | (13.1%) |
| 12. Australia | 63,524 | 1580.1% |
| 13. Netherlands | 49,317 | 859.3% |
| 14. Argentina | 44,119 | 83.3% |
| 15. Dominican Republic | 40,952 | 6.0% |
| 16. Ecuador | 34,575 | (16.0%) |
| 17. Israel | 33,872 | 45.7% |
| 18. Chile | 33,321 | 56.9% |
| 19. Bahamas | 32,275 | 33.9% |
| 20. Ireland | 32,041 | 1519.9% |
| Total Top 20 Overseas Countries | 1,927,697 | 238.5% |
Top 20 Overseas Tourist-Generating Countries
Year-to-Date Through Month of August 2022
| Country of Residence & Rank | Number of Arrivals | % Change vs. same period 2021 |
| 1. United Kingdom | 2,125,208 | 2540.1% |
| 2. Germany | 913,100 | 1256.4% |
| 3. India | 868,402 | 273.5% |
| 4. France | 859,317 | 1537.7% |
| 5. Brazil | 729,191 | 846.6% |
| 6. Colombia | 627,270 | (8.1%) |
| 7. South Korea | 500,817 | 434.8% |
| 8. Spain | 498,376 | 703.8% |
| 9. Italy | 448,907 | 898.0% |
| 10. Australia | 344,218 | 1897.9% |
| 11. Argentina | 339,108 | 106.1% |
| 12. Netherlands | 304,697 | 1188.0% |
| 13. Japan | 295,151 | 310.0% |
| 14. Chile | 276,494 | 232.4% |
| 15. Dominican Republic | 269,427 | 14.9% |
| 16. Ireland | 243,158 | 3314.7% |
| 17. Ecuador | 231,434 | (7.5%) |
| 18. China, PRC | 215,719 | 78.0% |
| 19. Israel | 210,346 | 100.7% |
| 20. Peru | 198,680 | (29.0%) |
| Top 20 Overseas Countries | 10,499,020 | 281.6% |
Overseas Visitors to the U.S. by
World Region of Residence
For Month of August 2022
| Region | Number of Arrivals | 2022 Share | % Change vs. Same period 2021 |
| Western Europe | 1,179,960 | 44.9% | 996.2% |
| Eastern Europe | 73,512 | 2.8% | 185.7% |
| Asia | 553,997 | 21.1% | 111.3% |
| Middle East | 93,569 | 3.6% | 33.3% |
| Africa | 48,853 | 1.9% | 92.2% |
| Oceania | 83,353 | 3.2% | 1437.6% |
| South America | 353,624 | 13.5% | 33.9% |
| Central America (Excluding Mexico) | 85,683 | 3.3% | (7.0%) |
| Caribbean | 153,127 | 5.8% | 38.5% |
| Total Overseas | 2,625,678 | 100.0% | 172.6% |
Overseas Visitors to the U.S. by
World Region of Residence
Year-to-Date Through August 2022
| Region | Number of Arrivals | 2022 Share | % Change vs. Same Period 2021 |
| Western Europe | 6,452,588 | 43.6% | 1417.6% |
| Eastern Europe | 447,687 | 3.0% | 235.1% |
| Asia | 2,445,071 | 16.5% | 247.5% |
| Middle East | 544,825 | 3.7% | 87.3% |
| Africa | 224,792 | 1.5% | 138.7% |
| Oceania | 421,952 | 2.9% | 1597.5% |
| South America | 2,680,200 | 18.1% | 50.7% |
| Central America (Excluding Mexico) | 719,680 | 4.9% | 1.4% |
| Caribbean | 847,819 | 5.7% | 48.4% |
| Total Overseas | 14,784,614 | 100.0% | 212.4% |
From this point, the reader is encouraged to digest and analyze the latest batch of numbers from NTTO.
INBOUND reminds the reader that, if you find that you want to dig deeper into your data collection and analysis program, you might want to contact David Huether at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO). He is deputy director for research, and he can probably help you point your venture in the right direction. You can reach him here: David.Huether@trade.gov
