NEW YORK, NY January 14, 2008 —A rising number of international travelers chose New York City as their destination in 2007, spurring a record-setting year.

WNYC's Brian Zumhagen reports.

With a final count still pending, the city's tourism office says an estimated 46 million people visited the city in 2007 - that's up 5% from the year before.

Those visitors spent an estimated $28 billion.

And speaking of dollars, the falling US currency is getting credit for helping to draw some 8 and a half million tourists from outside the US - an increase of 17%.

The portion of visitors from other countries had dwindled since the 9/11 attacks, but last year's growth returned to pre-2001 levels.

NYC & Company has launched an overseas advertising campaign. In 2007, it more than doubled the number of its marketing offices overseas, targeting such countries as China, Brazil and Canada.

For WNYC, I'm Brian Zumhagen.