WASHINGTON (AFP) — US officials on Friday dismissed a claim by tourism professionals that visitor numbers to the United States have plummeted since 2001 and were not forecast to pick up in the short term.
"The total number of travelers to the United States, as well as spending by those visitors, is forecast to hit record levels by the end of 2007," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Service Ana Guevara said in a statement sent to AFP.
"Furthermore, in 2006, visitors to the US spent 108 billion dollars, nearly five billion more than any year in US history," Guevara said.
"The real story is a positive one," she said.
Guevara was reacting to a statement issued Thursday by the Discover America advocacy campaign, which said the number of overseas visitors to the United States has plummeted by 17 percent decline since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Overseas visitors covers all foreigners who travel to the United States, except from Mexico and Canada, which are the two biggest markets for US visitors.
Statistics released last month by the Department of Commerce project showed that visitor numbers from Britain, the biggest market for overseas travelers to the United States, will rise by three percent from 2000 to 2010.
Visitor numbers from South Korea, the fifth biggest market, will soar by 40 percent during the same period, the statistics show.
But visitors from Japan will fall by 19 percent, and from Germany and France by five percent each, giving an overall projected increase in visitors from the five biggest markets of one percent in 10 years.
Discover America said growth of one percent in 10 years was insufficient, and the group's executive director, Geoff Freeman, blamed the slump on the shabby welcome many foreigners feel they get in the United States.
But a US official who asked to remain anonymous told AFP Friday that statistics through August show the United States is "on track to welcome record numbers of visitors this year."
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