New York, as popular as ever in 2012

The Big Apple proved as popular as ever and more so in 2012. It's not your imagination that the streets were more crowded than usual and that hotel room prices don't ever seem to go down, even in low season. The truth is, there's hardly a low season in New York these days. In 2012, the city welcomed a record-breaking 52 million visitors.

A city on top of the world

As an American destination, New York captured 33% of overseas visitors to the country. Stats say that 41 million visitors were domestic while 11 million came from overseas. City mayor Michael Bloomberg has hopes that the city will hit its new goal in the next couple years of 55 million visitors which will have a $70 billion impact on the economy. Not a bad resolution for the New Year! Bloomberg had this to say in a recent press release from city hall,

“New York City continues to attract people from all around the world who want to experience our unique culture, food, parks, shopping, arts and energy, [...] The tourism industry is thriving, creating thousands of jobs for New Yorkers at all rungs of the economic ladder. We are well on our way to achieving our new goal of 55 million visitors and $70 billion in economic impact by 2015.”

New York City is not a place to be bored that's for sure. There are endless festivals, events and museums to visit year-round, even in winter. At lot of them are free as well! Whatever season you visit, don't overlook the local events and do your research before you go. 

Did you visit New York in 2012? Will it be on your travel list for 2013?

Image: katie_cat / Flickr cc.