With substantial increase in the number of tourists coming from countries like India and China, US has recorded 60 million international travellers arriving in the country in 2010, shattering the previous record set in 2000 by 17 per cent.

These international travellers spent more than $134 billion during their visits, a 12 per cent increase from 2009.

"The travel and tourism industry is playing an important role in strengthening the US economy, helping to support the 17 per cent increase in US exports we saw in 2010," US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said.

"This growth, along with a focused export promotion strategy, is moving us closer to achieving President Obamas National Export Initiative goal of doubling US exports by 2015," Locke said.

In 2010, seven of the top 10 countries for US overseas visitation posted new records: France, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Italy, China and India.

These markets led to a record 26 million combined overseas visitors, surpassing the record set by these countries in 2000, the Commerce Department said.

"More visitors to the US means more people eating in our restaurants, shopping in our malls and visiting our attractions, which leads to more US jobs, Locke said.

Travel and tourism is a $1.3 trillion sector of the US economy, supporting 7.8 million American jobs.

In 2010, the US had a surplus of nearly $32 billion in travel and tourism, an increase of 50 per cent over 2009.