It s not entirely fair. Some in the travel industry say the nation s market share in world tourism will steadily erode without promotional spending by the federal government. Industry analysts estimate the United States market share has already declined by nearly 25 percent in the last decade due to the opening of previously closed destinations such as China, Russia and eastern Europe. The number of international visitors to the United States, however, continues to increase because more people overall are traveling. The United States had about 51 million visits last year, second only to France which had 74.5 million visits.
International travelers are also desirable because they spend more than U.S. travelers.
These are people who have the chance to get on an airplane for the first time. The Travel Industry Association, a trade group for the industry, has launched its own marketing effort focused in Great Britain, Japan and Brazil. The SeeAmerica print campaigns have already shown results for some of the companies that participated. Universal Studios Recreation Group saw a surge of inquiries about the company s theme parks in Florida and California after ads ran in Britain, said Fred Lounsberry, the company s senior vice president for sales. Tourism is the nation s third-largest retail sales industry, according to industry figures.