CHICAGO â Chicago officials say 46.2 million tourists visited the city last year, a near-record.
In a statement Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the strong numbers show that the city's marketing efforts are paying off.
In 2012, 45 million U.S. visitors came to Chicago, up 6.2 percent from the year before. Meanwhile, international tourism climbed to 1.2 million people, up 3.2 percent from 2011.
The latest figures were just shy of the tourism record set in 2007.
Emanuel's set a goal of having 50 million visitors a year by 2020.
