NYC hits tourism record; weak dollar helps draw estimated 46M visitors

New York City welcomed a record number of tourists in 2007, a milestone spurred by a jump in international travelers attracted by the falling dollar.

The final count is not finished, but the city's tourism office said Sunday that an estimated 46 million people had visited last year _ up 5 percent from the year before.

The jump was largely due to foreign visitors, who numbered an estimated 8.5 million, 17 percent higher than the year before.

The portion of the city's tourists who were from other countries had dwindled since the Sept. 11 attacks, and last year's growth returned the ratio to pre-2001 levels.

The city has been working to draw international visitors, who stay longer and spend more money. The city tourism office has launched an overseas television, print and billboard campaign, and in 2007 it more than doubled its marketing offices, targeting countries including China, Brazil and Canada. It expects to open offices in Australia and India.

While the city's popularity has grown in Europe and elsewhere, the number of Japanese citizens visiting continued to fall _ down to 260,000 last year from 410,000 in 2000. George Fertitta, chief executive of the tourism office, attributed the decline to economic troubles in Japan and a tendency among many Japanese to visit a destination only once.

New York is one of only a few U.S. urban centers that did not have a drop in the number of overseas visitors between 2000 and 2006.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he wants the city to attract 50 million travelers each year by 2015. Last year, visitors to New York spent about $28 billion (euro19 billion) in the city, $4 billion (euro2.7 billion) more than they had the year before.

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