Good news on AyCee tourism front

So maybe, like that of Mark Twain's, the reports of Atlantic City's demise are greatly exaggerated. That, at least is one takeaway from the monthly "Tourism Barometer" released today by the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority.

According to the survey, the town has experienced a nice (and somewhat surprising) surge in tourism. For instance, more than 7,000 visitors stopped at the ACCVA's visitor information centers on the Atlantic City Expressway and Boardwalk in November, a 12 percent increase over November 2010. What's more, year-to-date, the visitor centers have assisted 9% more visitors than the same period in 2010.

Additionally, the "Barometer" reports:

***Nearly 238,000 people logged onto www.atlanticcitynj.com, ACCVA's tourism Web site, last month. That's an increase of 28% over November 2010.  Year-to-date, more than 3.5 million people used the Web site to research and book travel to Atlantic City, an increase of 26% over 2010 year-to-date figures.

*** There has been a 39 percent year-to-year increase in the number of people attending conventions, trade shows and public shows at the Atlantic City Convention Center and the city's hotels. This has been accompanied by a 28 percent increase in convention delegate spending ($161.9 million so far this year).

***Fifteen sporting events at Boardwalk Hall this year have drawn 112,856 people, an increase of 22% over 2010 numbers.

To read the full report, go to www.atlanticcitynj.com/about/stats.aspx