Tourism in the United States

thumb|upright=1.1|[[Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Bay Lake, Florida is the most visited theme park in the world. In 2016, Orlando, Florida was the most visited destination in the United States, and continues to be one of the most visited destinations in the world.]]

thumb|upright=1.1|The [[Grand Canyon of Arizona attracts approximately 4.41 million visitors annually.]]

In the United States, tourism is a large industry that serves millions of international and domestic tourists yearly. Foreigners visit the U.S. to see natural wonders, cities, historic landmarks, and entertainment venues. Americans seek similar attractions, as well as recreation and vacation areas.

Tourism in the United States grew rapidly in the form of urban tourism during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By the 1850s, tourism in the United States was well established both as a cultural activity and as an industry. New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, all major U.S. cities, have attracted numerous tourists since the 1890s. By 1915, city touring had marked significant shifts in the way Americans perceived, organized, and moved.

During the early 20th century, many more people started to travel, partly because of the spread of the automobile. Similarly air travel revolutionized travel during 1945–1969, contributing greatly to tourism in the United States. Purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the United States totaled $10.9 billion during February 2013.

In the U.S., tourism is among the three largest employers in 29 states, employing 7.3 million in 2004, to take care of 1.19 billion trips tourists took in the U.S. in 2005. As of 2007, there are 2,462 registered National Historic Landmarks (NHL) recognized by the United States government. As of 2023, New York City is the most visited destination in the United States, followed by Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, and San Francisco.

Tourists spend more money in the United States than in any other country, but the United States attracts only the third-highest number of tourists, after France and Spain. The discrepancy may be explained by longer stays in the US. The rise of locomotive steam-powered trains during the 1800s enabled tourists to travel more easily and quickly.

In the United States, of rail track had been completed by 1840, by 1860 all major eastern US cities were linked by rail, and by 1869 the first trans-American railroad link was completed. This made it possible for those living in the East and mid-West to visit the West Coast. Yosemite Park was promoted as a tourist attraction in the late 1850s and early 1860s for an audience who wanted a national icon and place to symbolize exotic wonder of its region. New York's population grew from 300,000 in 1840 to 800,000 in 1850. Chicago experienced a dramatic increase from 4,000 residents in 1840 to 300,000 by 1870.

There was not much urban tourism during the 19th century, perhaps because American cities lacked the architecture and art which attracted thousands to Europe. American cities tended to offend the sensitive with ugliness and commercialism rather than inspire awe or aesthetic pleasure. Some tourists were fascinated by the rapid growth of the new urban areas: "It is an absorbing thing to watch the process of world-making; both the formation of the natural and the conventional world," wrote English writer Harriet Martineau in 1837.

thumb|upright=1.1|The [[Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts was one of several institutions classed as tourist attractions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.]]

As American cities developed, new institutions to accommodate and care for the insane, disabled and criminal were constructed. The Hartford, Connecticut American School for the Deaf opened in 1817, Ossining, New York state prison (now known as Sing Sing) in 1825, the Connecticut State Penitentiary at Wethersfield in 1827, Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831, the Perkins School for the Blind in 1832, and the Worcester State Hospital in 1833. These institutions attracted the curiosity of American and foreign visitors. The English writer and actress Fanny Kemble, an admirer of the American prison system, was also concerned that nature was being destroyed in favor of new developments. Guidebooks published in the 1830s, 40s and 50s described new prisons, asylums and institutions for the deaf and blind, and urged tourists to visit these sights.

Accounts of these visits written by Charles Dickens, Harriet Martineau, Lydia Sigourney and Caroline Gilman were published in magazines and travel books. The buildings which housed them were themselves monumental, often placed on hilltops as a symbol of accomplishment. The development of automobiles in the early 1900s included the introduction of the Ford Model T in 1908. In 1900, 8,000 cars were registered in the US, but this had increased to 619,000 by 1911. By the time of the Model T's introduction in 1908, there were 44 US households per car.

The development of hotels with leisure complexes had become popular in the U.S. during the 1930s. The range of club type holidays available appealed to a broad segment of the holiday market. Florida's white sandy beaches, warm winter temperatures and wide range of activities such as swimming, fishing, boating and hiking all attracted tourists to the state. During the 1930s, architects designed Art Deco style buildings in Miami Beach. Visitors are still attracted to the Art Deco district of Miami. In its first year, the park added $14 billion to Orlando's economy.

Late 20th century

thumb|upright=1.1|The [[Douglas DC-4 was one of the first airliners used for U.S. commercial flights.]]

The revolution of air travel between 1945 and 1969 contributed greatly to tourism in the United States. In that quarter century, commercial aviation evolved from 28-passenger airliners flying at less than to 150-passenger jetliners cruising continents at . During this time, air travel in the U.S. evolved from a novelty into a routine for business travelers and vacationers alike. Rapid developments in aviation technology, economic prosperity in the United States and the demand for air travel all contributed to the early beginnings of commercial aviation in the US. By 1997, the figure was 612.8 million. In 1950 receipts from international movements were US$ 2.1 billion, in 1997 they were $443.7 billion.

21st century

The travel and tourism industry in the U.S. was among the first commercial casualties of the September 11 attacks, a series of terrorist attacks on the U.S. Terrorists used four commercial airliners as weapons of destruction, all of which were destroyed in the attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C., and in Pennsylvania with nearly 3,000 deaths. In the first full week after flights resumed, passenger numbers fell by nearly 45 percent, from 9 million in the week before September 11 to 5 million. The U.S. outbound holiday market is sensitive in the short term, but possibly one of the most surprising results from the September 11, 2001 attacks was that by February 2002 it had bounced back. This quick revival was generally quicker than many commentators had predicted only five months earlier.

The United States economy began to slow significantly in 2007, mostly because of a real-estate slump, gas prices and related financial problems. Many economists believe that the economy entered a recession at the end of 2007 or early in 2008. 100 million tourists visited Florida in 2015, a record for the nation.

In August 2019, after various mass shootings in the U.S., Amnesty International and some countries issued a travel warning.

Various actions stemming from the Trump administration, particularly tariffs and immigration policies and practices, affected U.S. tourism, projected, in August 2025, to decline by $12.5 billion during 2025, a 22.5 percent decrease, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council and Oxford Economics, overriding earlier projections, in April, of a 9.4 percent decline year-over-year in the number of travelers arriving in the U.S. from abroad. Data from the U.S. government recorded in March 2025 showed sharp drops in visitors from the following markets compared to the same time last year: Germany (down 28%), Spain (25%), the United Kingdom (18%), Canada (17%), South Korea (15%), and Australia (7%), reflecting a total drop of inbound tourism by 11.6%. In May, the U.S. was the singular country expecting a decline in its international visitor spending in 2025.

Attraction

There exist a broad range of tourist attractions in the United States such as amusement parks, festivals, gambling, golf courses, historical buildings and landmarks, hotels, museums, galleries, outdoor recreation, spas, restaurants and sports.

Visitor statistics

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pos:(50,37) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Tourist arrivals in 2024 (millions)

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pos:(50,20) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Source: Trading Economics / Office

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pos:(50,3) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text: of Travel and Tourism Industries

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{| cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" style="border:solid 1px #aaa"

|+Yearly tourist arrivals in million

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General data

By country

upright=2.4|thumb|Number of non-immigrant admissions for tourist and business purposes into the United States in 2017

The highest numbers of non-immigrant admissions into the United States for tourists and for business purposes in were from the following countries:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Country

!FY 2023

!FY 2022

!FY 2021

!FY 2020

!FY 2019!! FY 2018 || FY 2017 || FY2016 || FY2015 || FY 2014

| 20,514,314

| 14,382,227

| 2,529,022

| 4,808,888

| 20,720,068

| 21,475,152

| 20,493,214

| 19,287,499

| 20,699,152

| 23,013,691

| 14,499,093

| 12,435,501

| 10,576,371

| 6,808,656

| 18,328,181

| 18,387,405

| 17,788,008

| 18,990,585

| 18,374,224

| 17,069,821

| 3,897,534

| 3,466,107

| 460,749

| 730,032

| 4,779,997

| 4,659,178

| 4,482,707

| 4,587,092

| 4,915,379

| 4,165,429

| 1,838,481

| 1,481,008

| 249,154

| 293,967

| 2,063,767

| 2,062,462

| 2,080,425

| 2,046,288

| 2,284,912

| 2,073,675

| 1,762,369

| 1,256,915

| 433,305

| 335,990

| 1,473,517

| 1,378,035

| 1,285,466

| 1,206,771

| 1,147,693

| 985,667

| 1,624,719

| 1,224,974

| 239,336

| 423,689

| 2,104,617

| 2,209,372

| 1,912,447

| 1,725,479

| 2,228,291

| 2,274,305

| 1,600,400

| 919,796

| 202,711

| 439,286

| 2,298,279

| 2,210,597

| 2,334,839

| 1,982,516

| 1,775,456

| 1,473,365

| 1,592,934

| 1,317,882

| 222,036

| 297,785

| 1,843,782

| 1,767,461

| 1,667,506

| 1,641,152

| 1,767,343

| 1,675,898

| 1,518,522

| 597,330

| 121,519

| 696,727

| 3,752,980

| 3,493,313

| 3,595,607

| 3,603,786

| 3,792,997

| 3,653,454

| align="right" | 1,174,601

| align="right" | 413,032

| align="right" | 202,557

| align="right" | 402,357

| align="right" | 2,988,763

| align="right" | 3,148,183

| align="right" | 3,326,187

| align="right" | 3,186,997

| align="right" | 2,765,642

| align="right" | 2,350,738

| 976,952

| 717,593

| 135,636

| 140,547

| 1,086,026

| 1,073,383

| 1,032,107

| 988,860

| 1,045,424

| 970,293

| 954,481

| 641,772

| 52,439

| 208,707

| 1,319,238

| 1,362,431

| 1,323,703

| 1,350,508

| 1,453,103

| 1,308,707

| 932,060

| 943,819

| 1,063,659

| 270,110

| 944,013

| 942,617

| 841,931

| 852,618

| 861,907

| 891,709

| 825,790

| 773,421

| 182,458

| 151,519

| 943,248

| 876,248

| 826,818

| 807,447

| 759,951

| 715,139

| 596,155

| 524,841

| 301,794

| 197,748

| 854,442

| 994,035

| 1,018,177

| 926,321

| 798,567

| 692,446

| 572,271

| 473,009

| 85,829

| 111,318

| 727,229

| 725,283

| 700,872

| 674,544

| 728,596

| 645,480

|- style="border-top:3px solid green;"

! Total (worldwide)

! 66,481,888

! 50,770,685

! 22,280,100

! 19,212,014

! 79,441,595

! 79,745,918

! 77,186,746

! 76,407,488

! 77,773,526

! 75,379,354

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"

! colspan=4| Statistics of American Samoa

! Country !! 2016 || 2015 !! 2014

| || 22,371 || 21,251 || 20,786

| || 17,560 || 17,053 || 14,487

| || 3,660 || 3,580 || 3,589

| || 1,148 || 1,016 || 966

| || 974 || 860 || 978

| || 861 || 832 || 758

| || 707 || ||

| || 644 || 639 || 615

|- style="border-top:3px solid green;"

! Total || 50,159 || 48,197 || 45,326

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"

! colspan=5| Statistics of Guam

! Country/Territory !! 2017 !! 2016 !! 2015 || 2014

|- style=background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| || 684,443 || 544,957 || 427,900 || 308,037

| || 620,547 || 745,680 || 773,019 || 810,856

|- style=background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| || 77,058 || 77,706 || 70,246 || 55,192

| || 32,505 || 42,229 || 42,205 || 49,136

|- style=background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| || 21,856 || 27,013 || 23,698 || 16,280

| || 19,316 || 17,579 || 14,334 || 14,761

|- style=background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| || 19,129 || 21,652 || 12,427 || 12,079

|- style="border-top:3px solid green;"

! Total || 1,543,990 || 1,535,518 || 1,409,050 || 1,343,092

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"

! colspan=4| Statistics of Northern Mariana Islands

! Country/Territory !! 2016 || 2015 || 2014

|- style=background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| || 206,538 || 186,509 || 170,121

| || 200,875 || 182,622 || 142,081

|- style=background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| || 62,120 || 80,832 || 109,793

| and || 22,447 || 19,968 || 20,405

|- style=background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| || 1,710 || 732 || 1,098

| || 1,796 || 1,374 || 11,200

|- style=background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| || 999 || 2,405 || 694

|- style="border-top:3px solid green;"

! Total || 501,469 || 478,592 || 459,240

Notes

Statistics include territories, as follows.

Late 20th century

21st century

Attraction

Visitor statistics

General data

By country

See also

Notes