Travel to U.S. off 17 percent since 9/11 attacks

Decline costs country $15 billion in taxes, 200,000 jobs, study finds

	Visitors take photographs from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. A survey of people from 16 countries last year ranked the United States as the most unfriendly to travelers.
Mario Tama / Getty Images file

updated 3:15 p.m. ET Jan. 23, 2007

WASHINGTON - A 17 percent drop in overseas travelers to the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks has cost the country more than $15 billion in lost taxes and nearly 200,000 jobs, a study showed Tuesday.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has tightened security measures and toughened its visa and entry requirements. As a result, the country was ranked as the world’s most unfriendly to visitors in a survey conducted last year of travelers from 16 nations.

“Our economic security is suffering from a drastic decline in overseas travelers and we are missing an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen America’s image around the globe,” said Stevan Porter, president of Intercontinental Hotels Group and chairman of the association’s Discover America Partnership. “We are in the midst of a travel crisis.”

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The study released Tuesday by the Travel Industry Association said the U.S. market share of the $6 trillion worldwide travel market had dropped to about 6.1 percent in 2006, from about 7.5 percent in 2000. Since Sept. 11, overseas travel to the United States has dropped by 17 percent.

The study, which looked at the economic ripple effect over time, said the drop resulted in 194,000 lost jobs, $25.9 billion in lost payroll and $15.6 billion in lost taxes to federal, state and local governments.