The U.S. Department of Commerce announced today that the United States welcomed a total 5.6 million international visitors in January 2017, a two percent increase in arrivals when compared to January 2016. This figure (preliminary data) marked the first month of growth in total U.S. visits since June 2016.
However, non-resident visits from overseas countries (all countries except Mexico and Canada) totaled 2.6 million in January 2017, down -2.3% compared to January 2016.
The top inbound markets continued to be Mexico and Canada. Mexico recorded 1.5 million visits to the United States in January 2017, an increase of 2%. Overnight volume from Canada totaled 1.5 million visitors, a 9% increase compared to January 2016. Rounding out the top five inbound markets, travel from the People’s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong) was up by +16.6%, Japan was down -3.2%, and the United Kingdom was down by 9%,
In January 2017, five of the top 10 countries posted decreases in non-resident visits. However, non-resident visitation from two of the top 10 countries — People’s Republic of China (excluding HK) and South Korea–registered double-digit increases.
Regional Markets
Inbound travel to the U.S. was not quite as strong as the total numbers suggest. Eight of the nine major overseas regional markets recorded decreases in non-resident visits to the United States in January 2017: Western Europe (-4.6%), South America (-8.5%), Oceania (-5.9 %), the Middle East (-23.1 %), Central America (-6.1 %), the Caribbean (-6.5%), Eastern Europe (-7.0%), and Africa (-11.2%). Asia was the only region to report an increase (7.1 %).
Top 10 Countries Percent Change JanuaryCountry of Residence2017 vs. 2016
| Mexico | 2 |
| Canada | 9 |
| People’s Republic of China (excluding HK) | 17 |
| Japan | -3 |
| United Kingdom | -9 |
| South Korea | 12 |
| Brazil | -14 |
| Germany | -7 |
| Australia | -8 |
| India | 3 |
