Richer Indian travelers boost US tourism industry

IT is not only India which is benefiting from the new warmth between India and the United States, the Land of Opportunities too seems to be reaping a rich harvest from this bonhomie of relationship in the post 9/11 era.

The US economy which was hit in the post 9/11 phase, too is reaping rich dividends with an increasing number of Indian tourists to the US. Last year, Indian travelers visiting the US spent some $1.4 billion, which is an increase of 16 percent over the previous year. Among the Asian countries, India ranks fourth in terms of total travel and tourism exports to the continent, Department of Commerce spokesperson Matthew P. Braud, told The Indian Express.

The three countries above India are Japan, Australia and South Korea. Department of Commerce puts Australia under the Asia Pacific category. If Australia is removed from this list, India would be ranked third in the list of travel and tourism expenditures in the US. Asian countries like Singapore and Hong Kong are ranked tenth and eighth respectively.

Ranked fourth, Chinese travelers spent $1.5 billion, while Japanese topped the list with $16 billion, followed by a distant Australia with $2.8 billion and South Korea with $2.6 billion.

The latest released statistics of the Department of Commerce revealed that in 2005 as many as 345,000 Indians visited the US, an increase of 12 percent over the previous year figure of 309,000. This is for the second consecutive year that the increase in travelers and tourists from India has shown a double digit growth.

The first few years after 9/11, the visa restrictions and increased security had actually resulted in the decline of the number of travelers from India to the US, which dropped from 274,000 in 2000 to 257,000 in 2002. With the booming Indian economy and the fast expanding Indian middle class, Indian travelers are now considered to be globe toddlers who visit every part of the world and spend a lot in their travel.

Since 2000, Indian visitation to the United States has increased nearly 26 percent, he said. This is not all, a latest study released by the Department of Commerce early this week revealed that the number of travelers from India to the US would increase by as much as 51 per cent in the next five years. The expenditure by Indian travelers in the US is also expected to increase substantially.