D.C. Counts Nearly 18M Visitors, Up From Before 9/11
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tourism officials say Washington saw a record 17.9 million visitors last year, surpassing a previous record of 17.4 million set in 2000 before the 9/11 attacks.
Statistics released Tuesday by the tourism bureau Destination D.C. show a 4.1 percent increase in international tourism in 2011, totaling 1.8 million visitors. Washington also counted 16.1 million domestic visitors -- a 3.7 percent increase over 2010.
International tourism figures are based on the U.S. Commerce Department's Office of Travel and Tourism Industries statistics.
Figures show visitor spending grew last year by more than 6 percent to reach $6 billion in 2011.
Destination D.C. says more than half the city's sales tax revenue is generated by visitor spending. That means without that revenue, each Washington household would pay about $2,400 more in annual taxes.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
