Put the source to work.
Ask what visitors come to do, where they go, what they spend, and how long they stay. The Survey of International Air Travelers helps frame these questions within its stated survey coverage.
Why it matters
Different visitors have different needs. Clear survey evidence can help a place understand the market it wants to welcome.
What does the visitor actually come to do?
Imagine two visitors arrive on the same flight. One attends a business meeting; another visits family. Their spending, destination choices, and support needs may differ. A survey can help reveal the purpose behind the trip. Its sample and definitions explain which travelers the results represent.
SIAT can support research on visitor purpose, spending, accommodation, destinations, and length of stay. Use the tourism pillar to set your question. Keep different survey universes separate, and check whether a figure is a count, a share, an average, or another measure before comparing it.
Three steps you can take
- Choose the visitor group and trip question you want to understand.
- Read the survey universe, period, destination level, and meaning of source dashes.
- Compare like measures and seek local partner insight about how to serve those visitors.
Read the source: International Trade Administration: SIAT. This reference explains the source or research context; the inventory figures below come from the reviewed NDS package.
Know what you are looking at.
- Extracted observations
- 1,128,338
- Workbooks
- 139
- Build status
- CANDIDATE_BUILT
- Recorded checks
- 15 pass, 2 warnings
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
Review and promote the candidate before public use of its observation tables.
Keep survey universes separate. Preserve source dashes and missing-value meanings instead of converting them silently to zero.
Available results and rankings
- This source guide documents the reviewed candidate and the types of research it can support.
Coverage and limits
- A certification string exists, but the recorded build status remains CANDIDATE_BUILT.
- The recorded warnings and promotion step must be resolved before the candidate is treated as a published series.
Other source guides
Commercial Diplomacy Index™ · National Data System · Source and method guide · October 20, 2026