Record-high 52 million tourists generate $55 bln for New York
NEW YORK - Agence France-Presse
Confetti is dropped on a large crowd of revelers at midnight during the New Year celebrations in Times Square in New York. REUTERS photo
The famous “I love NY” tourist T-shirts may have to be changed to “All 52 million of us love NY.” That’s how many people visited the Big Apple in 2012, setting a new record that broke the previous year’s milestone of 50 million.New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg touted the success on Dec. 31, ahead of the annual mega-street party for the dropping of the New Year’s ball on Times Square.
He said 41 million visitors were from inside the United States and 11 million from abroad, altogether generating about $55.3 billion in revenue and keeping New York in top place for US travel destinations, with 33 percent of the overseas market share.
