David Huether, senior vice president of economics and research at the U.S. Travel Association, provides analysis on the Commerce Department announcement that the overall trade deficit edged down slightly to $43.5 billion in October:
"Travel exports are up a strong 13.9 percent compared to 2010, outpacing not only other service exports but exports of capital and consumer goods as well.
"As our country's number one domestic export industry, international travel in the United States generated $241 billion in economic output last year, which supported 1.8 million American jobs that cannot be outsourced. Increased travel exports over the past year have been a key reason why job growth in the travel industry has outpaced the rest of the economy by 60 percent through October of this year. The travel industry created 115,000 jobs through the first 10 months of 2011, accounting for nine percent of the total U.S. jobs created this year.
"Though positive, these figures could be greater if a significant barrier were removed: a U.S. visa system that fails to match the demand of millions of international travelers who want to travel to the United States. Research shows that U.S. visa system reform would bring additional international business and leisure travelers to the U.S., creating additional jobs and economic output for our struggling economy. Given the fragile state of the economy, we should not wait to implement important reforms."
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