Mayor’s office says Chicago hits new record for tourists

CHICAGO – The Chicago mayor’s office says the number of tourists to the city in 2017 was more than 55 million — a new record.

In a Sunday statement, it says that number was an increase by 1.4 million, or 2.5 per cent, compared to the year before. The 55 million figure represents a 40 per cent increase in visitors since 2010, when there were under 39 million.

The office says the record-setting year in 2017 means that the goal Mayor Rahm Emanuel set previously of reaching 55 million visitors annually by 2020 was achieved two years early.

The Sunday statement says estimates are that the tourism industry supported more than 146,000 jobs in Chicago in 2017.