to the increase in the proportion of travelers for pleasure, who might be expected to visit a relatively large number of countries, and the decreases in the proportions both of travelers on family affairs and of naturalized citizens obtaining passports, who might be expected in either case to limit their sojourns, in general, to single countries.

Figure 6. Departures of United States citizens from United States and Canadian seaports to oversea destinations, by geographic areas, 1930-37.

Table 11.-Principal Countries Visited by United States Citizens Traveling in European and Mediterranean Area, 1935-37 1

Disturbances in the Far East apparently acted as a check to the growth in travel from the United States to that area in recent years,

with the result that citizen departures to oriental ports fell from 20,000 in 1936 to 19,000 in 1937. Departures for Central American ports, numbering approximately 15,000, also fell somewhat below those in the preceding year, which totaled almost 17,000, while travel to the West Indies showed an appreciable increase from 105,000 to 116,000, and the relatively small number of citizens visiting South America (8,300 in 1937) increased in about the same ratio. Citizen travel to non-European areas as a whole accounted for 47 percent and 43 percent of total oversea travel in 1936 and 1937, respectively, and departures for European destinations constituted, accordingly, 53 percent and 57 percent. Citizen departures to oversea destinations (exclusive of cruise and air travel) are shown by areas in table 12 and figure 6 for the years 1930-37 and by individual countries for 1937 in table III, appendix B.

Table 12.-Departures of United States Citizens From United States and Canadian Seaports to Oversea Destinations, by Geographic Areas, 1930-37

1 Includes Mediterranean Europe, Asia, and Africa.

2 Includes Oceania and Africa (except Mediterranean).

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Labor.

Since there were no substantial changes in average steamship fares paid for North Atlantic passages or in average travel outlays in the European area as compared with those of the preceding year (see table IV, appendix B) and since there were no marked shifts in the distribution of travel by class of accommodation or by flag of carrier,

the increase in total estimated expenditures of citizens visiting the area from $117,000,000 in 1936 to $141,000,000 in 1937 (exclusive of expenditures by citizens on cruise) was in proportion to the increase in the volume of travel. On the other hand, as a result largely of a decrease in the proportion traveling on United States vessels, estimated total payments to foreigners by citizens visiting South America and the Far East rose from $17,000,000 to $18,000,000 in spite of a slight decline in the volume of traffic to the two areas combined. The expenditures of citizens visiting nearby oversea areas-the West Indies and Central America-were estimated at $34,000,000 in 1937, as compared with $30,000,000 in 1936.

43

The total number of cruise passengers making round trips between United States and foreign ports increased from 94,300 in 1936 to 116,100 in 1937, or by approximately 23 percent (see table VI, appendix B). Although exactly comparable data are lacking for years prior to 1932, cruise travel in 1937 was probably heavier than in any previous year by a wide margin. Of the totals for 1936 and 1937, 82,200 and 94,200 passengers, respectively, took short cruises touching West Indian and Caribbean points and only 4,400 and 7,800, respectively, long cruises to European and South American points or roundthe-world. Expenditures by citizens taking short cruises were estimated at $24,000,000 in 1937, as compared with $19,000,000 in 1936, and by those on long cruises at $10,000,000 and $6,000,000, respectively, exclusive in each case of fare payments to United States vessels. The more than proportionate increase in long cruises (as well as the decrease in the number of cruise travelers carried by United States vessels) accounted for the increase of one-third in total payments to foreigners on account of cruise travel from $25,000,000 in 1936 to $34,000,000 in 1937, although the number of cruise passengers increased by less than one-fourth.

Air travel between the United States and foreign countries continued its unbroken upward trend in 1937. Approximately 19,000 citizens departed via aircraft for oversea destinations in 1937, an increase of 4,000 over 1936 (see table 13). Their expenditures (exclusive of fare payments made almost entirely to United States air lines), which increased to an estimated $7,000,000 in 1937 from $5,000,000 in the preceding year, have not yet become an important factor in total expenditures in foreign countries by United States travelers. An interesting feature of oversea air travel during 1937 was the inauguration of service to China and the increase in the number of passengers for the Philippines. Air travel beyond the borders of the country is still, however, predominantly to Cuba and Bermuda.

The expenditures of United States citizens permanently residing abroad were entered in the oversea tourist account at the nominal amount of $10,000,000 both in 1936 and in 1937. The item does not, of course, cover the outlays of all citizens domiciled in foreign countries. The expenditures of numerically large groups are included in other balance-of-payments estimates-in interest and dividend payments in the case of investment income transferred to citizens residing in foreign countries, in government account in the case of veterans and government employees living abroad, in institutional contributions in the

The remaining cruises to Canadian and Mexican points, approximately 7,700 in 1936 and 14,100 in 1937, were excluded from consideration upon the assumption that the expenditures involved were included in the United States-Canadian and United States-Mexican tourist accounts.

case of missionaries and others in foreign service-while the incomes. of many of those employed abroad, including a large number receiving salaries from the foreign subsidiaries of domestic corporations, are actually derived from foreign sources.**

Table 13. Departures of United States Citizens via Aircraft for Oversea Countries, 1935-37 1

1 Almost without exception, all recorded departures were via American-owned air lines, fare payments to which are not international transactions.

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service. Department of Labor.

The number of alien residents of the United States departing for temporary visits in oversea countries was 53,000 in 1937, or approximately 2,000 less than the total reported for 1936. The number of alien residents actually returning from temporary visits abroad (that is, those making a round-trip journey) was 48,000 in 1937. Although slightly heavier than in 1936, when there were 46,000 aliens admitted from oversea areas as returning residents, this class of travel has not varied much from 50,000 persons in the past 5 years. The failure of travel to foreign countries by alien residents of the United States to increase during the period of generally increasing foreign travel in 1934-37 probably signifies the further weakening of sentimental ties with their native lands, as well as the gradual decrease in the number of foreign-born residents who are not citizens. An additional factor involved was probably the moving up to the years 1930-33, for economic reasons, of trips which would have been taken, because of the custom of making periodical journeys, in later years.

The geographic distribution of this oversea travel, based upon data showing country or area of birth and based therefore upon the assumption that alien residents of the United States who go abroad visit in general their native countries, was in 1937: Europe and Mediterranean area, 40,000; South America and the Far East, 5,000; West Indies and Central America, 3,000. Estimated expenditures for the three areas combined, computed by the use of average outlays derived from questionnaire returns, were $25,000,000 in each of the years 1936 and 1937.

Collateral data showing the percentages of alien residents of the United States traveling in the European and Mediterranean area who visited specified countries and the average number of days spent in each were compiled from questionnaire returns for the first time in 1937. These data, given in table 14, indicate that approximately

"United States citizens residing in Canada, who are engaged primarily in agricultural pursuits, and those residing in Mexico are excluded from consideration on these grounds. They comprise more than half of all citizens whose residence abroad has a permanent or semipermanent character. See appendix B.

one-third of all alien residents going to Europe for temporary visits touched Germany, while one-fourth and one-fifth, respectively, visited England and France. The proportions which touched other European countries were relatively small, except for Italy, which was visited by 13 percent of the total, and Scotland, which was visited by 11 percent. The average length of stay ranged up to approximately 2 months in the case of alien residents visiting Ireland, Germany, and Norway. A comparison of the data in tables 11 and 14 shows that alien residents traveling in specified European countries made much more extended visits than citizens traveling in the same countries in 1937 but that they visited, on the whole, relatively fewer countries. Table 14.-Principal Countries Visited by Alien Residents of the United States Traveling in European and Mediterranean Area, 1937 1

The number of alien visitors to the United States from oversea countries increased to approximately 111,000 in 1937 from 99,000 in 1936. The volume of this class of travel in the latter year was more than double that in 1932 and already at a record level, but the 1937 traffic was higher by 12 percent. This mounting travel to the United States by foreigners from overseas has been called, not inaptly, "the rediscovery of America," and their number is by no means insignificant even in comparison with the 366,000 United States citizens who visited noncontiguous foreign countries in 1937. If it is assumed that the per capita expenditures of the two categories of travelers are similar, the expenditures of alien oversea visitors to this country, exclusive of fare payments to foreign vessels (which are payments by foreigners to foreigners and not, therefore, international transactions) may be estimated at $49,000,000 in 1937, an amount which represented roughly one-third of total tourist receipts from foreigners in the same year and an increase of $4,000,000 over the corresponding estimate for 1936. The proximate sources of tourist receipts from oversea visitors in 1937, by geographic areas, were: Europe and the

46

The comparatively high proportions of alien residents touching certain maritime countries are to be xplained, as in the case of citizen travel, partly upon the basis of in-transit travel to inland points. In the present instance, the relatively low average number of days spent by alien residents in France indicates that the explanation applies particularly to that country.

Since fare payments constitute a large percentage of total outlays for oversea travel and since they go largely in either case to foreign vessels, the exclusion of fare payments to foreign vessels from the tourist account in the case of alien visitors to the United States from overses areas and their inclusion in the case of United States travelers visiting oversea countries results in receipts from foreign travelers on oversea tourist account less in proportion to their number than corresponding payments to foreigners by United States travelers.