With solutions for a quick domestic turnaround unavailable, Washington policymakers are focusing attention on expanding the number of wealthy foreign tourists who visit the United States and spend their money over the next 10 years.

 

The enticements for overseas residents to spend more in the U.S. include coupons, beauty pageants and promises of visa reform, according to The Washington Post. Foreign tourists typically spend three times as much per day as Americans on vacation in their own country.

 

Currently, most international tourism dollars come from Canada ($20.8 billion), Japan ($14.6 billion), the United Kingdom ($11.6 billion) and Mexico ($8.7 billion). But Washington wants to take advantage of growing economies in China, India and Brazil and encourage those countries’ wealthy to take more American junkets. In 2010, Brazilian tourists spent $6 billion in the U.S., Chinese $5 billion and Indians $4 billion.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

To Boost Flagging Economy, U.S. Wants to Import More Shoppers (by Ylan Q. Mui, Washington Post)

United States Travel and Tourism Exports, Imports, and the Balance of Trade: 2010 (Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, Department of Commerce) (pdf)