Skift Take
Airlines will make their own changes to meet this new demand from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Chinese tourists will be arriving in the U.S. over the next few years by the millions, but U.S. tourism should also get ready for an influx of visitors from Saudi Arabia, the Russian Federation, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Travel & Tourism Industries' 2013 Spring Travel Forecast shows that visitor volume to the U.S. will rise 4% to 69.6 million this year, and will climb at a compound annual growth rate of 4% in the 2013-2018 period.
That forecast, with the projected CAGR dipping from a previous 4.2% estimate to 4%, would mean visitor growth would rise 26% and deliver 84.6 million visitors in 2018, a jump of 17.6 million compared with the 2012 mark.
The forecast taps the leading origin countries in 2018 versus 2012 as China (up 229%), Saudi Arabia (191%), the Russian Federation (79%), Brazil (66%), Argentina (65%), and Colombia (54%).
One possible lesson here: There has been so much talk about hotels learning the customs of the Chinese to accommodate the influx of Chinese visitors. Perhaps hotels should also take a refresher course in the likes and dislikes of Saudis, Russians, Brazilians, Argentinians, and Colombians, as well, be
