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The American Invasion of Europe: The Long Term Rise in Overseas Travel, 1820-2000

Author

Listed:
  • Brandon Dupont
  • Alka Gandhi
  • Thomas J. Weiss

Abstract

Tourism today is an activity of substantial economic importance worldwide, and has been for some time. Tourism is also of substantial economic importance in the United States, sufficient to warrant the Bureau of Economic Analysis's establishing special accounts on travel and tourism. In this paper we investigate the long term rise in overseas travel by Americans. Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the number of Americans going abroad rose from less than 2,000 travelers to over 26 million. The industry went from one confined to the elite of American society to what some have described as mass tourism. We document this rise by compiling a long term series on overseas travel, and describe the changes in the composition of the travelers, their destinations, and their mode of travel. We use an Error Correction Model to explain how the increase came about.

Suggested Citation

  • Brandon Dupont & Alka Gandhi & Thomas J. Weiss, 2008. "The American Invasion of Europe: The Long Term Rise in Overseas Travel, 1820-2000," NBER Working Papers 13977, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13977
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dora L. Costa, 1997. "Less of a Luxury: The Rise of Recreation since 1888," NBER Working Papers 6054, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ka Ming Cheng & Hyeongwoo Kim & Henry Thompson, 2011. "The US Tourism Trade Balance and Exchange Rate Shock," Auburn Economics Working Paper Series auwp2011-12, Department of Economics, Auburn University.
    2. Ka Ming Cheng & Hyeongwoo Kim & Henry Thompson, 2013. "The Exchange Rate and US Tourism Trade, 1973–2007," Tourism Economics, , vol. 19(4), pages 883-896, August.
    3. Brandon Dupont & Alka Gandhi & Thomas Weiss, 2009. "Fluctuations in Overseas Travel by Americans, 1820 to 2000," NBER Working Papers 14847, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N7 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services
    • N71 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N72 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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