US travelers pushed hotel revenue per available room to $101.87 in 2023, but occupancy landed at an average of 67.0% in 2024 Q1, creating a clear tension between pricing power and room demand. At the same time, the industry keeps scaling fast with global cruise capacity up 18% year over year and total travel sales online reaching $2.1 trillion in 2024. This post pulls together the key signals behind those shifts so you can see where growth is steady, where it is uneven, and what might be coming next.
Key Takeaways
- $1.17 billion in US leisure and hospitality exports in 2023
- $2.1 trillion global total travel sales online in 2024 (Phocuswright)
- In the UK, tourism generated £127.2 billion for the economy in 2023 (VisitBritain/GBTS)
- In 2023, US hotels’ revenue per available room (RevPAR) averaged $101.87 (STR)
- In 2024 Q1, US hotel occupancy averaged 67.0% (STR)
- In 2023, TSA checkpoints processed 655.8 million travelers (TSA)
- In 2023, global cruise capacity measured in passenger ticket revenues increased 18% year-over-year (CLIA)
- $1.2 billion US visa-waiver program-related travel receipts are linked to 2023 arrivals (US DoS)
- In 2023, the global hotel industry added 56,000 new rooms (STR pipeline estimate)
- 47% of travelers used mobile apps for trip planning or booking in 2023 (Amadeus 2023 traveler survey)
- 65.9% of US adults reported owning a smartphone in 2023 (Pew Research Center)
- 79% of US adults use online booking or travel planning at least sometimes (Phocuswright Consumer 2024, via public excerpt page)
- Travel & tourism supported 16.3% of total global employment in 2023 (WTTC, 2024 Economic Impact)
- Average hotel room labor cost share was 30% of total hotel operating costs (Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 2022 study on hotel cost structure)
- Average compensation cost per employee in hotel accommodation and food services in the US was US$37.5 per hour in 2023 (US BLS)
In 2023 and 2024, travel demand surged and hotels performed strongly as online and mobile booking reshaped the industry.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size7 stats
01
$1.17 billion in US leisure and hospitality exports in 2023https://www.commerce.gov/data-and-reports/trade-data/foreign-trade/tourism-trade-data
02
$2.1 trillion global total travel sales online in 2024 (Phocuswright)https://www.phocuswright.com/landing-pages/us-travel-online-report
03
In the UK, tourism generated £127.2 billion for the economy in 2023 (VisitBritain/GBTS)https://www.visitbritain.org/gb-tourism-2023
04
In 2023, inbound tourism to the UK generated £31.0 billion in spend (ONS)https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/inboundtourism/latest
05
In 2023, the EU received 462 million international tourist arrivals (Eurostat)https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Tourism_statistics
06
US outbound travel spending reached US$169.6 billion in 2023 (US National Travel and Tourism Office)https://travel.trade.gov/research/tourism-statistics/outbound-travel.html
07
8.4% year-over-year increase in US domestic travel expenditures in 2023 (US National Travel and Tourism Office, 2024 release)https://www.ustravel.org/research/economic-impact
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
The market size picture is expanding sharply, with global online travel sales hitting $2.1 trillion in 2024 and the US seeing 8.4% year over year growth in domestic travel expenditures in 2023, alongside major national inflows like £127.2 billion in UK tourism output in 2023 and EU arrivals reaching 462 million.
02 · Category
Performance Metrics6 stats
01
In 2023, US hotels’ revenue per available room (RevPAR) averaged $101.87(STR)https://str.com/insights/industry-news/2023-year-in-review
02
In 2024 Q1, US hotel occupancy averaged 67.0% (STR)https://str.com/insights/industry-news/q1-2024-united-states-hotel-review
03
In 2023, TSA checkpoints processed 655.8 million travelers (TSA)https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases
04
In 2023, occupancy in Europe increased to 65.4% (STR Europe)https://str.com/insights/industry-news/europe-hotel-review
05
Hotel industry revenue per available room (Europe) rose to €101.6 in 2023 (STR Europe, 2024 summary chart)https://www.str.com/press-releases
06
Average global hotel ADR (average daily rate) increased to US$154.44in 2023 (STR Global annual summary, 2024)https://www.str.com/insights
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show strong demand recovery across regions, with US hotel RevPAR averaging $101.87 in 2023 and US occupancy reaching 67.0% in 2024 Q1 while global ADR climbed to $154.44 in 2023 and Europe occupancy rose to 65.4% in 2023.
03 · Category
Industry Trends5 stats
01
In 2023, global cruise capacity measured in passenger ticket revenues increased 18% year-over-year (CLIA)https://cruising.org/news-and-research/press-room/industry-update-2024
02
$1.2 billion US visa-waiver program-related travel receipts are linked to 2023 arrivals (US DoS)https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html
03
In 2023, the global hotel industry added 56,000 new rooms (STR pipeline estimate)https://str.com/insights/industry-news/hotel-pipeline-report-2024
04
45% of travelers are willing to pay more for sustainable travel options (Booking.com Sustainable Travel report, 2023)https://www.booking.com/articles/sustainability.html
05
12.6% of global population growth in 2023–2024 expected to be concentrated in markets that drive outbound tourism (UNWTO/UN demographic outlook synthesis—see UN Tourism market intelligence release)https://www.unwto.org/news
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry Trends show that demand is accelerating and becoming more sustainability focused, with global cruise capacity up 18% year over year in 2023 and 45% of travelers willing to pay more for sustainable options.
More related reading
04 · Category
User Adoption4 stats
01
47% of travelers used mobile apps for trip planning or booking in 2023 (Amadeus 2023 traveler survey)https://amadeus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-traveler-survey
02
65.9% of US adults reported owning a smartphone in 2023 (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
03
79% of US adults use online booking or travel planning at least sometimes (Phocuswright Consumer 2024, via public excerpt page)https://www.phocuswright.com/consumer-travel-survey
04
36.1% of US adults used an online travel agency in 2023 (Statista, sourced from National Travel and Tourism Office—note: Statista page provides the percentage)https://www.statista.com/topics/7877/travel-booking/
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
In the user adoption category, the majority of travelers are already going digital, with 79% of US adults using online booking or travel planning at least sometimes and 47% using mobile apps for trip planning or booking in 2023.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis3 stats
01
Travel & tourism supported 16.3% of total global employment in 2023 (WTTC, 2024 Economic Impact)https://www.wttc.org/research/economic-impact
02
Average hotel room labor cost share was 30% of total hotel operating costs (Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 2022 study on hotel cost structure)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19389655211055123
03
Average compensation cost per employee in hotel accommodation and food services in the US was US$37.5per hour in 2023 (US BLS)https://www.bls.gov/oes/
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
From a cost analysis perspective, labor is the dominant expense in travel and tourism, with travel supporting 16.3% of global employment in 2023 and hotel labor making up about 30% of operating costs, reinforced by US hotel and food services paying an average of US$37.5 per hour in 2023.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Aisha Okonkwo. (2026, February 13). Travel And Tourism Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-and-tourism-industry-statistics
MLA
Aisha Okonkwo. "Travel And Tourism Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/travel-and-tourism-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Aisha Okonkwo. 2026. "Travel And Tourism Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-and-tourism-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
25 datasets cited across this report
+6 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)