International visitors spent nearly $19.9 billion in the United States in August 2026, down nearly 5 percent from August 2025, according to National Travel and Tourism Office data. The figure comes from NTTO’s monthly U.S. travel and tourism exports series. Hotel News Resource published the result on 12 October 2026.
The decline sits heaviest in the spending that reaches hotels and restaurants. NTTO counts travel spending as purchases of food, lodging, recreation, gifts, entertainment and local transportation by international visitors. That category totaled nearly $10.8 billion in August against $11.8 billion a year earlier, a fall of nearly 9 percent.
The Three Categories Inside the August Total
Travel spending took 54 percent of U.S. travel and tourism exports in August. Passenger fare receipts from international visitors on U.S. carriers totaled $2.8 billion, down 3 percent, and took 14 percent.
Education, medical tourism and short-term worker expenditures moved the other way. That category reached $6.4 billion in August, up more than 3 percent, and took 32 percent. The growth offsets part of the fall inside the same federal series. Hotel accommodations and food and beverage purchases sit inside the travel spending line.
What the Exports Series Measures
The series records what international visitors spend. It does not record hotel room demand. The release does not settle the cause of the fall either. NTTO data do not establish whether the decline came from fewer international visitors, shorter stays, changed spending patterns, or a combination of those factors.
The travel spending line is the hotel exposure figure. It covers lodging, food and beverage, recreation and local transport. It fell nearly 9 percent in August against a nearly 5 percent fall in the total.
The Year to Date Runs Above the Month
International visitors spent an estimated $165.0 billion in the United States from January through August 2026, down nearly 1 percent from the same eight months of 2025. NTTO puts the average daily injection at $679 million for the year to date.
The month rate sits below the year-to-date rate. NTTO’s July feature article on trade.gov reported $145.4 billion for the year to date through July, down 0.1 percent, an average of $686 million a day, and a July month total of nearly $20.4 billion, down nearly 1 percent. Both daily averages are NTTO’s own figures.
August reads weaker than the months before it on the agency’s own series. The eight-month total fell nearly 1 percent. The single month fell nearly 5 percent.
The Outbound Side and the Trade Balance
Americans spent more than $19.7 billion abroad in August, up 0.5 percent from a year earlier. The inbound and outbound flows left a U.S. travel and tourism trade surplus of $157 million for the month and nearly $5.6 billion for the year to date.
NTTO states the monthly surplus at $157 million. Its rounded headline figures for the same month, nearly $19.9 billion in and more than $19.7 billion out, differ by $200 million. The release gives no unrounded component values behind either total.
The July edition of the same series put the monthly surplus at $413 million. Americans spent nearly $20.0 billion abroad in July, up nearly 3 percent. The August surplus is the smaller of the two on the agency’s own releases.
What the Data Gives Hotel Operators
The release carries no room-night, occupancy or average-rate breakdown. A U.S. hotel reading the August result gets an expenditure series with a dated month figure, an eight-month total, and a three-way split across travel spending, passenger fares, and education and medical spending.
The travel spending share of 54 percent and the August fall of nearly 9 percent apply to a category that includes hotel accommodations, restaurant meals and recreation. The education, medical and short-term worker share of 32 percent grew more than 3 percent in the same month. That growth supports the export total without adding international room nights.
The 2026 year-to-date spend of $165.0 billion works out at $679 million a day across the 243 days from 1 January to 31 August, which matches NTTO’s own published daily average. The comparable figure for the year to date through July was $686 million a day.
The Day-Use Lines the Release Does Not Carry
The release carries no day-use line. It states no hourly rate, no daytime window and no part-day revenue figure. The $165.0 billion year-to-date total and the $10.8 billion month are visitor expenditure counts. Neither names a room type or a rate position a daytime operator could sell.
The U.S. Day-Use Shelf
Dayuse.com publishes its city list in a sitemap. That file carried 10,973 city entries across 44 country paths on 15 October 2026, and 4,040 of those sit under the united-states path. The platform’s hotels sitemap carried 11,878 property pages across 30 country paths, with 4,135 under the usa path.
A daytime operator prices part of the same room against the overnight market the release measures. The day-use rate card sits with each property.