Travel and tourism in the United States recovered to its pre-pandemic real-output level in 2023, while the sector’s value added, prices, and employment all showed substantial movement. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported $2.64 trillion in total tourism-related current-dollar output for 2023, including $1.52 trillion in direct output and $1.12 trillion in indirect output.
Table of contents
- Travel and tourism’s place in the U.S. economy
- Recovery in value added
- Which travel activities produced the most output
- Transportation and air travel
- Travel prices in 2023
- Tourism employment
Travel and tourism’s place in the U.S. economy
BEA’s U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Account for 2018–2023 measures the sector’s contribution to the U.S. economy. Travel and tourism real output increased 7.0% in 2023, following a 20.8% increase in 2022. The 2023 increase represented an additional $81 billion in real output and brought the measure back to its 2019 level.
Tourism’s share of U.S. GDP also moved higher. It rose from 2.96% in 2022 to 3.03% in 2023. For scale, total U.S. GDP was $27.721 trillion in 2023. Travel and tourism value added reached $840 billion that year.
The current-dollar output measure includes both direct and indirect activity. Direct tourism output was $1.52 trillion in 2023, while indirect tourism output was $1.12 trillion. BEA reported a total-output-to-direct-output ratio of 1.73. In the account’s terms, each $1 of direct tourism output required $0.73 of indirect tourism output. These measures describe economic output connected with tourism, not the spending of one particular traveler or a single travel itinerary.
Prices also changed, although more slowly than in the previous year. Prices for U.S. travel and tourism goods and services increased 2.3% in 2023, after increasing 12.5% in 2022. The current-dollar total tourism-related output of $2.64 trillion in 2023 was up from $2.39 trillion in 2022.
Recovery in value added
The BEA value-added series shows the sector’s sharp decline in 2020 and its subsequent recovery. Value added is the contribution to production after accounting for intermediate inputs, so it differs from the broader current-dollar output totals.
| Year | U.S. travel and tourism value added |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $601 billion |
| 2019 | $655 billion |
| 2020 | $463 billion |
| 2021 | $653 billion |
| 2022 | $771 billion |
| 2023 | $840 billion |
In 2018, travel and tourism value added was $601 billion. It reached $655 billion in 2019, then fell to $463 billion in 2020. The measure rebounded to $653 billion in 2021, reached $771 billion in 2022, and rose again to $840 billion in 2023. The sequence gives independent travelers useful context for interpreting 2023 activity: the latest annual figure was higher than every listed year before it, while the account also separately reported that real output returned to its 2019 level.
Which travel activities produced the most output
BEA reported all tourism goods and services real output of 1,232,720 million chained 2017 dollars in 2023. The use of chained 2017 dollars means these are inflation-adjusted production measures expressed with 2017 as the reference year; they should not be read as 2023 cash receipts.
Transportation was the largest listed broad activity, with real output of 510,592 million chained 2017 dollars. Recreation, entertainment, and shopping together produced 289,700 million. Traveler accommodations produced 239,466 million, and food and beverage services produced 187,616 million.
Other travel-related categories included gasoline, at 99,379 million chained 2017 dollars, and travel arrangement and reservation services, at 83,671 million. Automotive rental and leasing recorded 40,857 million.
Within recreation, entertainment, and shopping, shopping was the largest listed component at 200,659 million chained 2017 dollars. Recreation and entertainment recorded 89,486 million. Participant sports accounted for 22,349 million, motion pictures and performing arts for 17,811 million, spectator sports for 6,840 million, and gambling for 32,721 million.
These figures show the range of activity associated with travel: accommodation and meals sit alongside transportation, booking services, fuel, shopping, entertainment, and sports. They are sector production measures for the United States in 2023, rather than a ranking of destinations or a measure of how much an individual trip should cost.
Transportation and air travel
Passenger air transportation real output was 225,803 million chained 2017 dollars in 2023. Domestic passenger air transportation services accounted for 171,545 million, while international passenger air transportation services accounted for 55,089 million. The two components are reported separately in the BEA account and should not be treated as interchangeable measures of passenger volume.
Other passenger and local transport categories were smaller in the same real-output series. Passenger water transportation services recorded 20,836 million chained 2017 dollars. Local bus and other transportation services recorded 18,924 million, passenger rail transportation services recorded 2,244 million, and intercity bus services recorded 1,495 million. Taxicab services recorded 7,606 million.
Automotive rental and leasing, at 40,857 million chained 2017 dollars, was a separate transportation-related category in the account. Gasoline real output was 99,379 million. Together, these figures illustrate why travel statistics cover more than flights: independent travel can connect air services with rental vehicles, local transport, fuel, rail, water transport, and other forms of mobility.
The broad transportation category reached 510,592 million chained 2017 dollars in 2023. Passenger air transportation therefore represented a substantial part of the listed transportation activity, while the remaining categories captured other ways travelers moved through and around destinations.
Travel prices in 2023
The BEA price measures use 2017 as the index base, with 2017 equal to 100. They show both the direction of price movement in 2023 and the index level relative to that base year.
| Category | 2023 price change | 2023 price index, 2017=100 |
|---|---|---|
| Traveler accommodations | +4.14% | 118.2 |
| Food and beverage services | +6.55% | 133.3 |
| Transportation | -0.27% | 125.8 |
| Passenger air transportation | +4.60% | 119.0 |
| Domestic passenger air services | +5.47% | 121.2 |
| International passenger air services | +1.68% | 110.4 |
| Automotive rental and leasing | -4.54% | 125.1 |
| Travel arrangement and reservation services | +4.12% | 103.4 |
| Gasoline | -10.32% | 147.1 |
| Shopping | +2.31% | 118.9 |
Food and beverage services had the largest positive 2023 price change among the listed categories, rising 6.55% to a price index of 133.3. Traveler accommodations rose 4.14% to 118.2. Passenger air transportation prices increased 4.60% to 119.0; within that category, domestic services rose 5.47% to 121.2 and international services rose 1.68% to 110.4.
Not every travel-related price increased. Automotive rental and leasing prices fell 4.54%, with an index of 125.1. Gasoline prices fell 10.32%, although its index remained 147.1. The broad transportation price measure edged down 0.27% to 125.8. Travel arrangement and reservation services rose 4.12% to 103.4, while shopping prices rose 2.31% to 118.9.
The measures are not a quote for a particular route, hotel, rental car, or restaurant. They are BEA price indexes for categories of U.S. travel and tourism goods and services during 2023, compared with the 2017 reference year.
Tourism employment
Direct tourism employment reached 6,454 thousand jobs in 2023. BEA reported an increase of 10.5%, or 613,000 jobs, during the year. “Direct” employment here refers to jobs in the account’s directly identified tourism industries; it is not a count of every job indirectly supported by travelers.
Food services and drinking places had the largest listed direct-employment total, at 2,064 thousand jobs, and grew 16.48% in 2023. Transportation direct employment reached 1,582 thousand jobs, increasing 7.69%. Traveler accommodations reached 1,441 thousand jobs, increasing 7.22%.
Air transportation services direct employment reached 619 thousand jobs and grew 9.95%. Recreation, entertainment, and shopping direct employment reached 988 thousand jobs and grew 20.05%. Within that broad group, recreation and entertainment reached 478 thousand jobs and grew 15.46%, while participant sports reached 246 thousand jobs and grew 14.42%.
Not all employment categories expanded. Travel arrangement and reservation services direct employment reached 327 thousand jobs but declined 3.25%. Gasoline service stations reached 189 thousand jobs and declined 3.08%.
The employment figures complement the output and price data. In 2023, the BEA account recorded rising direct tourism employment alongside 7.0% growth in real travel and tourism output, $840 billion in travel and tourism value added, and a 3.03% share of U.S. GDP. The figures cover the United States and the 2023 calendar year, so they do not predict staffing or prices for a particular destination or future trip.