New York No. 1 Among Overseas Tourists

You might want to think twice before you get exasperated at the sheer number of international tourists shuffling through midtown with maps unfurled, because they spent more money here in 2007 than in any other U.S. city, according to a new survey released by Global Insights. The city overtook Orlando and Las Vegas to become the top spending destination for foreigners, moving from the No. 3 spot when the survey was last conducted in 2006.

Last year, 1.5 million more overseas tourists visited the city compared to 2006, increasing its share of total international tourists 3.3 percent. Foreign visitors also pushed up Washington, Miami, Seattle, and Santa Ana/Anaheim, Calif., in the rankings.

In 2007, more than half of the record 46 million visitors to New York were from overseas, according to the city's tourism branch. Collectively, tourists spent $28.85 billion, 16 percent higher then 2006. (They tend to stay longer and to spend more than domestic tourists.)