A RECORD 50 million tourists will have visited New York City by the end of 2011, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced recently, up about 1.5 million from last year despite a slowing global economy.

The Big Apple is the most popular tourist destination in the United States, said tourism agency NYC & Company, which expects the city to have attracted 10.1 million international visitors and 40.1 million domestic visitors by the end of the year. "New York City's quality of life has contributed to this great success and we are confident we will sustain the success of our tourism industry in the months and years ahead," Bloomberg said in a statement.

New York City is also on track to generate US$32 billion (around $41 billion) in visitor spending. The highest number of international tourists were from Britain with more one million visiting in 2011. Since 2006 the number of New York City hotel rooms has increased by a quarter to 90,000.

Reuters