New York City is expecting to welcome seven times its population in tourist arrivals this year, according to NYC & Company’s latest tourism outlook.
The tourism bureau is forecasting some 59.7 million visitors to the city in 2016, a new record in the number of arrivals to the Big Apple.
Just to clarify, that’s 59.7 million people in one year!
That’s like 10 million more than the population of Spain.
Nearly a quarter of the number of burgers McDonalds sells in a year.
And filling the Wembley Stadium 663 times.
That’s a lot of people! Apparently around 47 million of them will be domestic visitors, while 12.7 million will arrive from overseas.
To accommodate the growing number of tourists, the city has a number of hotel developments in the pipeline, with 107,000 hotel rooms in the works for this year, and a total inventory of 133,000+ rooms expected by the end of 2019.
Among the new properties opening this year is the Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel (April 2016); The William Vale (May 2016); InterContinental New York Barclay (Spring 2016); The Beekman (Spring 2016); Four Seasons New York Downtown (Mid 2016); Whitby Hotel (Fall 2016); and 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge (Late 2016).
New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, said it’s not surprising, but very exciting, to hear the city will once again break a tourism record.
He attributed the ongoing success to the industry, businesses, artists and all New Yorkers.
“New York City is experiencing an exciting moment in its history, with unprecedented developments and openings debuting across the five boroughs this year and beyond.”
Fred Dixon, NYC & Company President and CEO
“We are pleased to announce during ITB Berlin that 2016 is slated to be another record year for tourism in New York City, its seventh consecutive year of growth, with 59.7 million visitors anticipated by year’s end.”
Last year, New York City welcomed a record 58.3 million visitors, the sixth consecutive year for record-breaking tourism.
