DENVER—A record 11.7 million visitors stayed overnight in Denver last year, a 13 percent increase from 2005, according to a new study released Wednesday.
Visitors to metro Denver spent a record $2.76 billion, also up 13 percent from the money spent in 2005, according to the study commissioned by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau and conducted by Longwoods International.
The bureau said the largest single one-year increase in city history was helped by a 17 percent jump in visits to friends and family in 2006.
Visits by business travelers were up 7 percent to 2.6 million, topping the national increase of 5 percent, according to the study.
“Business travel has finally returned to pre-9/11 levels,” bureau President and CEO Richard Scharf said.
Visits from people not drawn by friends, family or business grew 12 percent in 2006 to 3.6 million, the study said. The bureau said such visitors spent an average $93 per day per person in 2006, far more than the estimated $43 per person, per day for those staying with friends and relatives.
Business travelers generated $96 per person per day, the study found.
A tourism report for all of Colorado was to be released Monday.
Scharf said the new convention center expansion, new hotel inventory and new attractions in Denver helped boost numbers, and marketing efforts paid off.
