Record-Breaking Year of D.C. Visitors, Money Spent by Tourists

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The city had a banner tourism year in 2015, shattering records for both the number of visitors to the District as well as dollars spent.

According to Destination DC, 21.3 million people visited D.C. last year, which is up 5 percent from 2015.

Those tourists spent a whopping $7.1 billion during their stays, up 4.1 percent from the previous year.

Another record was also surpassed--the number of visitors that came from overseas, which increased by 7.8 percent from the previous year.

Of those 21.3 million visitors, around 2 million came from other countries, while slightly more than 19 million were from the U.S.

The top nation for visitors to D.C. was China. Roughly 300,000 tourists came from China, which is 36 percent more than in 2014. According to Destination D.C., that equates to 11.6 percent of all Chinese visitors to the U.S. in 2015, up from 10.1 percent.

The other top nations to visit D.C. last year, in order, were the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, France, India, South Korea, Brazil, Italy and Japan.

Next year is expected to be even bigger for the District, as the city will host the U.S. Travel Association's "International Pow-Wow" (IPW) from June 3-7, 2017.

IPW is the single largest generator of travel to the U.S., according to industry facts.

According to Rockport Analytics, in the three years following IPW, the host city is expected to receive an additional 1 million international visitors, and $1.7 billion in economic impact, with $84 million in local taxes.

For more information, visit Destination D.C. online.

Image courtesy of Destination D.C.