The number of Indian tourists visiting the US is likely to cross 1 million in 2015, and visitors from India would register the third fastest growth of 54 per cent after China and Columbia from 2013 to 2018, a US government report has said.
From the 859,000 Indians who visited the US in 2013, the number of Indian tourists coming to the country in the year 2018 has been projected to increase to 1.3 million in 2018, the US Department of Commerce said in its latest report on international visitors and their projections.
According to the Department of Commerce, 69.8 million international visitors travelled to the US in 2013, generating a record USD 181 billion in receipts and a USD 57 billion trade surplus.
The US attracts the second-highest number of tourists in the world after France, while tourists spend more money in the country than anywhere else.
All top-20 visitor origin countries are forecast to grow from 2013 through 2018.
Countries with the largest total growth percentages are China (139 per cent), Colombia (56 per cent), India (54 per cent), Taiwan (52 per cent), Brazil (50 per cent), and Argentina (48 per cent).
In 2013, international visitor tourism spending increased 9.1 per cent from 2012, supporting 1.3 million jobs.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a total of 8 million jobs are supported, directly and indirectly, by US travel and tourism.
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, said the US can expect four per cent average annual growth in tourism during the next five years, and that a record 72.2 million foreign travellers are projected to visit the country in 2014 alone.
The Spring 2014 Forecast for International Travel, released semi-annually by the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, predicts continued strong growth through 2018 following four consecutive years of record visitor volume.
"A record number of international visitors continue to choose the United States as their travel destination, which is contributing to our economic growth and supporting millions of jobs," said Pritzker.
"The Obama administration is committed to building on this success, and meeting the challenge President (Barack) Obama laid out in his National Travel and Tourism Strategy to welcome 100 million international visitors to the US and grow our economy by USD 250 billion by 2021," she said.
Four countries are expected to account for 59 per cent of the projected growth from 2013 through 2018.
These volume growth leaders are Canada (23 per cent of expected total growth), China (18 per cent), Mexico (11 per cent), and Brazil (7 per cent).
China tourists are expected to rise to a total of 2.5 million, or 139 per cent through 2018, and produce the second-largest number of additional visitors behind Canada.
India could add 461,000 additional visitors (+54 per cent), while South Korea should produce an additional 375,000 visitors (+28 per cent).
