The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced that real spending on travel and tourism decelerated in the third quarter of 2014, increasing at an annual rate of 1.3 percent after increasing 3.3 percent (revised) in the second quarter. Real gross domestic product (GDP) also decelerated, increasing 3.9 percent (second estimate) in the third quarter after increasing 4.6 percent.

The leading contributors to the deceleration in the third quarter were “passenger air transportation,” and “recreation and entertainment.” “Passenger air transportation” turned down, decreasing 7.2 percent in the third quarter after increasing 11.1 percent in the second quarter. “Recreation and entertainment” also turned down, decreasing 5.5 percent after increasing 4.1 percent. Partially offsetting these downturns, “traveler accommodations” turned up, increasing 8.3 percent in the third quarter after decreasing 0.9 percent.

Tourism Prices. Overall growth in prices for travel and tourism goods and services decelerated in the third quarter of 2014, increasing 0.6 percent following a 6.6 percent (revised) increase in the second quarter. This is the largest price deceleration since the fourth quarter of 2008. The deceleration was mainly attributable to a downturn in “all other transportation-related commodities,” which includes gasoline and automotive rentals; the industry group decreased 4.7 percent in the third quarter after increasing 8.6 percent in the second quarter.

Tourism Employment. Employment in the travel and tourism industries decelerated slightly, increasing 1.7 percent in the third quarter of 2014 after increasing 1.9 percent (revised) in the second quarter. This marks the 18th consecutive quarter of employment growth in the travel and tourism industries. By comparison, overall U.S. employment increased 2.1 percent in the third quarter after increasing 2.2 percent in the second quarter. “Food services and drinking places” was the most significant contributor to employment growth, increasing 2.9 percent in the third quarter.

Total Tourism-Related Output was $1.5 trillion in the third quarter of 2014, up 1.9%. It consisted of $898.4 billion (58 percent) of direct tourism spending and $644.0 billion (42 percent) of indirect tourism-related spending.

Total Tourism-Related Employment was 7.8 million jobs in the third quarter of 2014, up 1.7%. This consisted of 5.5 million (71 percent) direct tourism jobs and 2.3 million (29 percent) indirect tourism-related jobs.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis, through funding provided by the National Travel and Tourism Office, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, produces the U.S Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts (TTSAs) from which these estimates were derived.

Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts form an indispensable statistical instrument that allows the United States to measure the relative size and importance of the travel and tourism industry, along with its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP).

Approved by the United Nations in March 2002 and endorsed by the U.N. Statistical Commission, TTSAs have become the international standard by which travel and tourism is measured. In fact, more than fifty countries around the world have embraced travel and tourism satellite accounting as the only comprehensive, comparable, and credible measure of travel and tourism and its impact on national economies.

For more information on TTSAs, please visit: http://travel.trade.gov/research/programs/satellite/index.html.

To view the Q3 2014 release in its entirety, visit: http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/industry/tourism/2014/pdf/tour314.pdf