International tourism is up in the first 11 months of 2010 as 55 million visitors from other countries traveled to the United States. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that this is a 10 percent increase over the same period in 2009. November 2010 marked the 14th straight month of increases in U.S. arrivals.
Among the top overseas countries, the largest year-to-date percentage increases came from South Korea, Brazil, Australia, and Japan, while the UK registered a small decline. The greatest increase among European nations was France, which had a 12 percent increase year-to-date and a 25 percent hike this past November compared to November 2009.
The increase from France in consistent with results ARA has been observing at recent visitor surveys at New York museums. At the International Center of Photography, for example, which welcomed about one-third of its visitors from other countries, France was the best-represented other nation in 2010. As a result ARA conducted its recent intercept interviews in both English and French.