On Tuesday (January 4), Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that tourism in New York City is on the rise, resulting in a record year surpassing all projections.
In 2010, the city attracted 48.7 million tourists, a 6.8 percent increase over 2009. The growth added 6,600 jobs to the hospitality industry, and called for a record 7,000 hotel rooms to be added in order to accommodate the 25.7 million room nights sold.
In total, tourism injected $31 billion into New York City’s economy, and Bloomberg credits the industry with being "one of the reasons New York City was less impacted by the national recession than other cities, and it continues to be one of the reasons we’re growing faster than other cities today."
Reflecting these growing numbers, attendance rates were up at cultural institutions and Broadway ticket sales were 3.8 percent higher than in 2009.
By 2012, the city intends to attract 50 million tourists a year, and the 2010 numbers indicate that New York is on track to meet this goal, says Bloomberg.