International visitation to the US sets new records

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that a record 58 million international visitors traveled to the United States during 2008, an increase of nearly four percent over 2007. Thirteen of the top 25 arrivals markets broke records set in previous years, including Sweden. 

Arrivals to the United States in 2008 reflected a shift between the first nine months of the year and the fourth quarter. During this latter period,  Sweden and 11 of the other top 20 countries still posted growth, but other key markets - primarily Canada and Mexico - posted declines.
 
Although overall USA arrivals are still down two percent from 2000, the last record year, they have increased 33 percent from 2003, the post-9/11 low in arrivals to the United States.
 
U.S. visitation from Western Europe, at 12.2 million visitors, was up 12 percent for the year and accounted for almost half of overseas arrivals. Besides Sweden, new records were also set in France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. Only Ireland and the United Kingdom posted declines among the top 15 Western European arrivals markets for the fourth quarter of 2008. All the other countries registered increases in arrivals, although at a slower rate.
 
In December, Sweden visitations to the USA grew by over 7%, with the fourth quarter almost 10% ahead of last year. For 2008 as a whole, Sweden traffic to the USA was up 17.6% to just under 400,000 visitors. Of special
note, Sweden-USA traffic has grown month-over-month for 28 consecutive months, representing almost 40% improvement over 2006, and almost 60% since 2004. This is truly remarkable sustained growth.