Put the source to work.
Explore how national tourism measures changed during a shock, recovery, or longer period. The stored comparisons rank tourism series within their families; they do not rank destinations.
Why it matters
Different parts of tourism recover at different speeds. A national series can help explain the kind of activity behind an overall change.
Which part of tourism changed, and over what period?
Imagine a chamber wants to discuss the recovery of tourism after a sharp disruption. A hotel service, a transport activity, and a visitor purchase may recover differently. The story is clearer when you name the measure. Ranking tourism series is different from ranking destinations.
The reviewed package has recovery, pandemic-shock, and decade-growth comparisons within tourism families. Official 2014–2023 history and NDS 2024 estimates keep separate labels. Use the tourism guide to decide which part of the visitor economy you want to explain.
Three steps you can take
- Choose one tourism family and state the exact starting and ending periods.
- Check that the same table variant and units are used throughout the comparison.
- Explain whether a result is official history or an NDS modeled continuation.
Read the source: BEA: tourism accounts and definitions. This reference explains the source or research context; the inventory figures below come from the reviewed NDS package.
Know what you are looking at.
- Series with stored rankings
- 2,360
- Tourism families
- 8
- Official history
- 2014–2023
- Publication-approved NDS 2024 estimates
- 289
Use these figures to understand the package reviewed on October 20, 2026. The results section below tells you which comparisons you can explore here and which still need source work. A source guide is different from a complete table of published observations.
How to use the evidence
Preserve each table variant as a separate historical identity.
Keep official values and publication-approved NDS estimates distinct in labels, charts, and downloads.
What happens
after a visitor arrives?
Visitors may book a room, eat a meal, shop, or buy a ticket. The BEA national record shows how tourism-related business activity changed across these types of goods and services.
Use this to frame a business question. A lodging business can study traveler accommodations. A restaurant can study food services. Then pair the national story with local businesses, visitor data, and the customers you hope to serve.
Explore all 30 commodity lines and the historical source
United States · national · 2018–2023 · BEA February 2025 release, Table B. Real output is measured in millions of chained 2017 dollars. The table includes both domestic and inbound tourism; it does not split spending by visitors’ home country or ZIP.
| Source line | Tourism commodity | 2023 output · million chained 2017 US$ | 2023 growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All tourism goods and services | 1,232,720 | 7.0% |
| 2 | Traveler accommodations | 239,466 | 7.0% |
| 3 | Food and beverage services | 187,616 | 16.8% |
| 4 | Transportation | 510,592 | 3.7% |
| 5 | Passenger air transportation | 225,803 | 0.9% |
| 6 | Domestic passenger air transportation services | 171,545 | 0.1% |
| 7 | International passenger air transportation services | 55,089 | 3.8% |
| 8 | All other transportation-related commodities | 288,262 | 5.7% |
| 9 | Passenger rail transportation services | 2,244 | 21.9% |
| 10 | Passenger water transportation services | 20,836 | 24.4% |
| 11 | Intercity bus services | 1,495 | 4.8% |
| 12 | Intercity charter bus services | 3,175 | 15.9% |
| 13 | Local bus and other transportation services | 18,924 | 42.4% |
| 14 | Taxicab services | 7,606 | 13.4% |
| 15 | Scenic and sightseeing transportation services | 4,541 | 2.2% |
| 16 | Automotive rental and leasing | 40,857 | 20.8% |
| 17 | Other vehicle rental and leasing | 636 | 10.2% |
| 18 | Automotive repair services | 13,928 | -1.4% |
| 19 | Parking | 3,889 | 38.9% |
| 20 | Highway tolls | 2,444 | 40.4% |
| 21 | Travel arrangement and reservation services | 83,671 | 12.9% |
| 22 | Gasoline | 99,379 | -7.4% |
| 23 | Recreation, entertainment, and shopping | 289,700 | 7.3% |
| 24 | Recreation and entertainment | 89,486 | -2.7% |
| 25 | Motion pictures and performing arts | 17,811 | -4.8% |
| 26 | Spectator sports | 6,840 | 22.4% |
| 27 | Participant sports | 22,349 | 6.7% |
| 28 | Gambling | 32,721 | -4.1% |
| 29 | All other recreation and entertainment | 10,109 | -21.1% |
| 30 | Shopping | 200,659 | 12.4% |
Source lines include parent and child totals. Do not add all lines together; chained-dollar components are not generally additive. These figures describe output sold to visitors, rather than a count of people or a forecast of local sales. The source’s growth and contribution measures are preserved separately.
Source: BEA, U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Account for 2018–2023, Table B. Historical national context; separate from the 2024 country scores.
Available results and rankings
- Several certified layers and stored national-measure rankings were recorded in the review.
- The source supports recovery and shock research after affected historical key collisions are reconciled.
Coverage and limits
- Decade comparisons are especially sensitive to the historical series-key issues.
- These rankings are not destination, city, or country competitiveness rankings.
Other source guides
Commercial Diplomacy Index™ · National Data System · Source and method guide · October 20, 2026