US inbound tourism numbers are likely to break records by the end of 2007, PATA President and CEO Mr Peter de Jong told a North American travel industry conference in Korea (ROK) this week. "But since the events of September 11, 2001 and the resulting border controls and security restrictions, it has been a long hard struggle that has cost the American economy dearly," he added.

The US economy has missed out on US$16.4 billion in new expenditure, 189,000 new jobs and US$2.6 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues, according to the Discover America Partnership (DAP)'s A Blueprint to Discover America. The DAP has proposed a three-pronged US$300 million dollar plan to recover Brand USA's sagging reputation.

Mr de Jong had good news for the rest of the PATA region. "US outbound travel by air has never been stronger," he said. "Last year, there were 39.5 million departures by air. Significantly, almost 30 million of those were to destinations other than Canada and Mexico. And six million trips were to destinations in Asia and the Pacific."

The PATA chief was speaking at the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) International Destination Expo -- Asia, Jeju Island, Korea (ROK), March 27. His prediction of record US inbound numbers is based on PATA's Asia Pacific Tourism Forecasts 2007-2009, which will be officially launched in Vancouver, Canada, April 22, along with a presentation and panel discussion about the DAP's Blueprint.