Watch CBS News

NYC Sees Record Tourism In 2010

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (WCBS 880/1010 WINS/AP) – The numbers are in, and Mayor Bloomberg is happy.

New York City set a new record of nearly 48.7 million visitors in 2010, a sign that the Big Apple's tourism industry is bouncing back after a decline in tourists the previous year when travelers everywhere tightened their budgets amid the recession.

"New York City was for the second year in a run America's number one tourist destination," Bloomberg said.

Podcast

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reports

Podcast

LISTEN: 1010 WINS' Stan Brooks reports

The increase shows the city's travel industry may be back on track after tourism numbers slipped in 2009 for the first time since 2001.

RELATED: Top 5 Tourist Traps To Skip When Visiting NYC

New York saw a 7 percent increase in visitors over 2009, when there were 45.6 million. Officials said 39 million visitors were from the U.S. and 9.7 million were from abroad; both numbers are records.

Amid the economic slump, the City was able to beat out the recession more so than any other city as visitors spent an estimated $31 billion last year, helping provide more than 320,000 jobs in the hospitality and tourism industry.

"The strength of our tourism industry demonstrated by these numbers is one reason why New York City has weathered the national recession better than most of the cities have," Bloomberg said.

RELATED: NYC Hotels: Where Not To Stay In The Big Apple

Even better, the mayor predicted the City would meet its goal of hosting 50 million visitors by 2012.

"If you remember our original target was 50 million by 2015, then by great optimism we moved it down to 2012," Bloomberg said.

The Big Apple was by far the top U.S. destination for travelers from overseas, with 33 percent of total abroad visitors. Miami and Los Angeles tied for second place, each with 11 percent of the share.

Travel experts said New York is an exception among U.S. cities as far as its quick recovery over the past year.

"If you evaluate New York individually, you would think the lodging industry has gotten back to where it was. But New York is an anomaly,'' said Scott Berman, hospitality and leisure leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "You've got corporate demand and leisure demand from both the U.S. and overseas that are driving the strength in New York.''

Tourists flocked to New York despite travel scares like the spread of bedbugs in the city and a volcano in Iceland that grounded European air travel for several days.

The 2010 record was even higher than the city's projection for the year, which had been 47.5 million.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)


View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.