Americans, and the world, are voting for travel

Following President Obama's re-election to office, the US Travel Association was bullish in its predictions for the coming year, projecting a rise of nearly 100,000 tourism sector jobs by the end of 2013.

Growth in business, domestic and international inbound tourism next year will likely see the travel industry add some 98,800 American jobs over the next twelve or so months, says US Travel.

And given the industry’s “immense potential not only nationally, but also for local and state economies”, US Travel Association president Roger Dow says it is crucial Washington “build a plan for economic recovery that drives significant increases in travel”.

“The focus of this election season has been how to put Americans back to work, and our industry is uniquely capable of adapting to economic upswings and creating jobs,” Mr Dow remarked.

UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai said the Obama administration clearly understood the impact of tourism on the economy and jobs.

“The historic decision of President Obama to promote visa facilitation and to increase travel from China and Brazil are excellent policy examples,” Mr Rifai said.

Following the President's re-election, the UNWTO "hope that the Obama administration will continue to support travel and tourism" well into the future.

Although forecast to grow at a slower pace, domestic leisure travel is predicted to reach record high levels in 2013, with domestic spending forecast to grow by three percent.

Meanwhile, inbound tourism is expected to grow more significantly, by around four percent, with spending by international visitors set to rise by over seven percent.

Substantiating US Travel’s bold predictions for American tourism was an announcement by the US Department of Labor that the travel industry had created 296,000 jobs since December 2009, recovering 59 percent of jobs lost during the recession.

According to the Labor Department, the nation’s travel Industry leads the economy in employment growth, creating jobs 16 percent faster than other sectors.

“The travel industry is twice as export intensive as the rest of the economy and supports millions of middle class jobs that cannot be outsourced,” said David Huether, senior vice president of economics and research at the U.S. Travel Association.

“These unique qualities have made the travel industry a top performer in the current recovery.”