International travel to U.S. forecast to grow through 2018

International travel to the United States was expected to grow by 4 percent annually through 2018 after posting a record number of international visitors last year, U.S. Commerce Department said Monday.

International travel and tourism spending reached a record high of 168.1 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 10 percent from 2011. The increase was due to a surge in international visitors to the United States, as the U.S. had 67 million international visitors last year, a record high and an increase of 4.3 million from the prior year, the department said in a report.

Canada was ranked the first for contributing 22.7 million visitors to the United States in 2012, up 6 percent from a year earlier, followed by Mexico, which served as the source of 14.5 million tourists to the States, up 8 percent from the previous year, noted the report.

The fastest growing source of foreign visitors in the coming years will be China, with a forecasted 21.9 percent annual growth over the next six years. About 1.47 million Chinese travelers visited the United States last year, according to the report.

"This is good news as we continue to focus on a variety of efforts to boost travel and tourism to the United States. Increasing international visitors helps grow our economy and create more jobs," said Francisco Sanchez, U.S. Under Commerce Secretary for International Trade.