Photo by PoPville flickr user Faucetini

From a press release:

The District of Columbia welcomed a record 17.9 million visitors in 2011 — a number that tops the District’s previous record of 17.4 million total visitors, set in 2000. Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) show the nation’s capital welcomed 1.8 million overseas visitors in 2011, a 4.1 percent increase over 2010. When added to the 16.1 million domestic visits in 2011, the nation’s capital welcomed more visitors than ever last year according to Destination DC, the District’s official convention and tourism corporation.

Holy cow that’s a lot of tourists, I had no idea the numbers were that high.

In other news, metro escalator lines faced record congestion…

A breakdown of the visitors after the jump.

Washington, DC Visitors Statistics:

· International visitor spending makes up 27 percent of total visitor spending and increased by 13.5 percent in 2011.
· Domestic visitor spending increased by a lesser extent, growing 3.8 percent in 2011.
· For domestic visitors, 56 percent are leisure travelers and 44 percent are business travelers.
· Two-thirds of domestic visitors stay overnight as opposed to one-third who are day visitors.
· Top 10 overseas markets (2010):

o UK
o Germany
o Australia (+57.4 percent from 2009)
o China (+23.7 percent from 2009)
o France (+44.4 percent from 2009)
o Italy (+68.9 percent from 2009)
o Brazil (+39.2 percent from 2009)
o Japan (+30.5 percent from 2009))
o South Korea (+43.2 percent from 2009)
o Netherlands