The American Tourist

Abstract

The world is experiencing a tourism boom, with America in the leading position in total number of tourists and total dollars spent abroad. If measured in terms of per cap ita spending for foreign travel, however, twenty other nations exceed the United States. International travel expenditures for all of the industrialized nations are growing so rapidly that total world travel expenditures will probably exceed $40 billion annually within ten years. Tourism may play the key role in the future in providing the underdeveloped nations with a much needed new source for foreign exchange required for economic development programs.