New York welcomes record 58 million holidaymakers in 2015
Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC & Company today announced that 2015 was the sixth consecutive year for record-breaking tourism, with the city welcoming an estimated 58.3 million visitors last year, an increase of 1.8 million visitors over a year ago.
Visitation for 2015 comprised 46 million domestic and 12.3 million international visitors, both all-time highs.
Hotel demand was also strong with a record 33.7 million hotel room-nights sold, and meeting and convention delegates reached new heights, with a total 6.1 million attendees.
The announcement was made by NYC & Company president Fred Dixon and chairman of the Board of Directors Emily Rafferty during NYC & Company’s executive committee meeting this morning.
“Through the hard work of NYC & Company, and their support of the City’s various attractions – from restaurants to the performing arts and more – 2015 marked a new milestone for NYC tourism.
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“As the safest and most exciting big city in America, we have so many rich offerings that continue to make the five boroughs a global draw,” said de Blasio.
Even with the nearly 6,000 new rooms added to the City’s hotel inventory last year – bringing the total to nearly 107,000 rooms – the demand for NYC resulted in four per cent growth with the city selling a record 33.7 total hotel room-nights last year, 1.26 million more hotel room-nights sold compared with 2014.
“We are pleased to see a sixth year of tourism growth in New York City as we welcomed 58.3 million visitors last year.
“The City continues to evolve, always offering fresh reasons to visit again and again, with more new developments on the horizon.
“However, with the continuing pressure on the global economy and the strengthening dollar, we will all need to work even harder in 2016 to sustain our competitive edge,” said Dixon.
Of the City’s four largest international markets – UK, Canada, Brazil and China – all demonstrated growth last year, with China showing the largest rate of growth, a 14 per cent increase to an estimated 852,000 visitors.