US Set for Foreign Tourist Invasion Says Skyscanner

Skyscanner reveals which tourists spend the most and where in the USA they plan to visit in 2010.

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Mar 11, 2010, 07:56 ET

EDINBURGH, Scotland, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Travel site Skyscanner reveals which countries like to flash their cash the most when travelling and where in the US they plan on going in 2010 – Germans are in the lead, but China is quickly climbing up the ranks.

According to the WTO, German travelers are the biggest spenders; capitalizing on the strong Euro and US-inbound travel deals--like seasonal cheap flights to New York-- and are closely followed by the British, French, Chinese, Japanese, and Italians. And according to Skyscanner's data, New York is bound to get a big chunk of this pie, at least amongst US destinations, which collectively show some very positive growth figures for 2010.

Tourism worldwide is rebounding from the slump of 2009. And with the Tourism Promotion Bill approved by the US Congress, which President Barack Obama signed into a Law last week, the panorama for the US Tourism Industry looks promising.

Skyscanner's statistics show a 130% increase in searches for cheap flights to the US, over last year. Travelers from the UK lead the pack, followed by Germany and Italy. China has shown a great increase this year, surpassing Russia.

The Top 10 list of favored destinations includes the usual suspects: New York, Orlando, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, and Atlanta. Cities that are not usually regarded as destinations for foreign tourists, like Phoenix and Portland, have also shown growth - a trend that is expected to increase in the coming months.

While Skyscanner's data shows New York to be the favorite destination for foreign tourists, it is particularly preferred by the British - fully 25% of queries from the UK focused on the Big Apple as compared to 5% amongst the Chinese. And while cheap flights to Honolulu didn't make the Top10 list, Honolulu is the second-most popular city for Japanese tourists. Hawaii also attracts many Russian visitors, who interestingly also do many searches for destinations in Alaska.

About Skyscanner.com:

Skyscanner instantly compares online flight prices for over 670,000 routes on over 600 airlines. And with Skyscanner, users can just browse -without having to enter specific dates or destinations. Speak another language? Skyscanner is also available in 20 different languages: including Spanish, Chinese and French.

www.skyscanner.com

SOURCE Skyscanner