Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 10, 2012. On January 19th, 2012, President Obama signed an Executive Order and announced new administrative initiatives to significantly increase travel and tourism in and to the United States. The U.S. travel and tourism industry is a substantial component of U.S. GDP, exports, and employment, and efforts to make America the top tourist destination in the world offer a tremendous opportunity to create jobs and strengthen the U.S. economy. International spending on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services set an all-time record of $153 billion in 2011, an 8.1 percent increase from 2010, and supported an additional 103,000 jobs for a total of 7.6 million industry jobs. This positive trend is continuing in 2012 with more than 4.2 million international visitors traveling to the United States in February 2012, a nine percent increase over February 2011, and the 11th straight month of increases in total U.S. visits.
