U.S. Travel, Tourism Faring Better in 2021

The latest research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) reveals the U.S. Travel & Tourism sector could experience year-over-year growth of 35.6% in 2021, significantly outpacing the year's overall global tourism recovery.

The outlook is even more rosy for 2022, with the travel sector in the U.S. expected to grow by another 28.4%, reaching nearly $2 trillion of the U.S. economy for a contribution exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

By comparison, in 2019, the U.S. Travel & Tourism sector's contribution to GDP represented nearly $1.9 trillion (8.6% of the U.S. economy). However, in 2020, when the pandemic brought international travel to an almost complete standstill, the contribution to the sector dropped 41% to just $1.1 trillion (5.3% of the U.S. economy).

In 2021, the U.S. Travel & Tourism sector can expect a year-over-year growth of 35.6%, representing an increase of $393 billion, for a total contribution of nearly $1.5 trillion to the U.S. GDP. In comparison, the global economy is set to receive a 30.7% year-over-year increase from the travel & tourism sector in 2021.

At the current recovery rate, in 2022, the U.S. could experience a further year-over-year growth of 28.4%, representing an increase of $425 billion and bringing the sector's total contribution to the U.S. economy beyond pre-pandemic levels at over $1.9 trillion.

The nation's economy has benefited from a rise in domestic travel, with spending set to increase 40.4% ($261 billion) in 2021, with a further year-over-year rise of 22.9% expected in 2022.

Although international spending by travelers in the U.S. is set to grow by a mere 1.9% this year due to prolonged travel restrictions throughout the year, recent changes to international travel restrictions will provide a significant year-over-year boost of almost 228% in 2022, representing an increase of $98 billion and total contribution of $141 billion.

After the U.S. travel sector's loss of more than 5.5 million jobs last year, employment is set to rise by 26.2% in 2021, representing an increase of 2.9 million jobs and total contribution of nearly 14 million jobs. In comparison, 2019 contribution represented more than 16.5 million jobs.

In 2022, employment is set to increase a further 19.7%, representing a year-over-year increase of 2.75 million jobs and bringing total jobs across the U.S. Travel & Tourism sector above pre-pandemic levels at 16.72 million jobs.