The US received about 2.2 crore international visitors last year, down 72 per cent from 2019. Mexico (1.04 crore) and Canada (25.3 lakh) — that share a land border with the US — occupied the top two slots as source countries. India was the third largest overseas source country (not sharing land border with the US) with 4.3 lakh visitors, next only to Colombia (10.6 lakh) and UK (4.6 lakh), according to US department of commerce data
India was the fifth largest source country for international visitors to the US in 2021. According to reports, that placed India five places from pre-pandemic 2019. This was despite the US imposing restrictions on outbound travel.
The US received about 2.2 crore international visitors last year, down 72 per cent from 2019. Mexico (1.04 crore) and Canada (25.3 lakh) — that share a land border with the US — occupied the top two slots as source countries. India was the third largest overseas source country (not sharing land border with the US) with 4.3 lakh visitors, next only to Colombia (10.6 lakh) and UK (4.6 lakh), according to US department of commerce data.
As for spending by overseas visitors in America, Indians were the third highest. The commerce department’s data showed US travel and tourism-related exports in 2021 was at USD 81 billion. Of this, Mexico accounted for USD 11.7 billion, China at USD 9 billion and India at USD 5.8 billion.
The 4.3 lakh visitors from India, however, were 71 per cent lower than pre-pandemic 2019 levels. The figure is bound to improve when the US relaxes the predeparture testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers from India. Additionally, the figure will rise when jet fuel prices fall globally, enabling airfares to return to saner levels.
MakeMyTrip (MMT), India’s biggest online travel platform, in its data showed travel from India to the US “has recovered by 60 per cent over pre-Covid levels, with month-on-month bookings growing by 40 per cent” since January 2022.
“With strong recovery, the advance booking window continues to remain similar to pre-pandemic days. About 60 per cent of booking are made for travel within a month from the date of booking, and the rest are being made for any time after 30 days. New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston are the most visited cities by Indians travelling to the US. Currently, majority of the bookings are being made by families and couples visiting friends and relatives, and professionals travelling for work,” a MMT spokesperson said.
The US National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) pointed out in a fact sheet that “in June 2020, international travel arrivals were minus 95 per cent compared to 2019 levels… by October 2021, internal arrivals were minus 72 per cent. Following the end of restrictions on international travel to and from the US in early November 2021, international inbound travel accelerated. Still, by December 2021, international arrivals remained 50 per cent below 2019 levels”.
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