Spending by foreign tourists at record level

International tourists continue to spend record amounts in the United States and are on pace to top the previous annual high mark in tourist expenditures set in 2008, according to new data from the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries.

A monthly report by the federal agency said international visitors spent $13.1 billion on travel to the U.S. and tourism-related activities while here in October, a 13 percent increase over the same month last year.

About $10 billion of that total came from spending on hotels, food, souvenirs and other expenses after visitors arrived in the U.S.

Foreign visitors spent $127 billion in the United States in the first 10 months of 2011. Meanwhile, the total spent by Americans traveling abroad reached $91.9 billion in the first 10 months, an 8 percent increase over the same period in 2010, the agency reported. The result is a balance-of-trade surplus of $35 billion for the United States.

The agency predicted that international tourism spending will surpass $152 billion for 2011, up from the record of $141 billion in 2008.

Four countries are expected to account for two-thirds of the projected growth in international visitation to the United States over the next five years. About 31 percent of the growth will come from Canada, 13 percent from Mexico, 10 percent from China and 7 percent from Brazil, the agency said.