Tourism in New York City is at an all-time high, a reminder that this city is the dream vacation destination for people around the world, yet we lack a facility that can host mega events year-round.

TOUR DE NYC
By STEPHANIE GASKELL

July 12, 2005 -- New York City is expected to welcome a record number of tourists this summer, thanks to the low dollar and the low crime rate, officials said yesterday.

"More people will visit New York City this summer than ever before," said Mayor Bloomberg at a press conference at the South Street Seaport yesterday. He was beaming about an award from Travel & Leisure magazine that cited the city for being chosen the top destination in the United States and Canada for the fifth consecutive year.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, more than 11.5 million people will visit the Big Apple — a 4 percent increase over last summer, according to NYC & Co., the city's tourism department.

That figure is based on U.S. Department of Commerce projections and airline data.

Of those visitors, 1.5 million will come here from foreign countries — an 8 percent jump over last summer.

Most of those tourists will travel here from Britain, Canada and Japan.

NYC & Co. is also predicting a surge in tourism from Russia, China and India.

One of the reasons why we like visitors from abroad is because they spend a lot more money than domestic visitors," Bloomberg said. "We love 'em — they spent nearly five times what a domestic visitor spends."

During 2004, 39.6 million tourists visited the city and spent $18.5 billion.

Of that, 5.3 million international tourists spent a whopping $8.2 billion.

City officials said they'd like to see even more foreign tourists come here.

"International travel is not as strong as it should be," said NYC & Co. Chairman Jonathan Tisch. "But the good news is that New York City is outpacing all other destinations [in the U.S.]."

This is the second year in a row that international tourism has increased here since 9/11. Officials said there are several reasons why more people want to come here — mainly the weak dollar and low crime.

"But first and foremost is the attractiveness of New York City," said NYC. & Co. President and CEO Cristyne Nicholas. "People want to come to New York now more than ever because they've seen a lot of great things about New York."

Also, four years after 9/11, there is still what she dubbed "patriotic tourism."

Hotel occupancy rates for the summer are expected to increase by as much as 5 percent.