The Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the South Street Seaport are expected to have more visitors this summer than ever before.

Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that tourism is expected to increase by 4% over last year in the months between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

According to projections by the city’s official tourism board, NYC & Company, the number of international tourists will climb by 8% this summer to 1.2 million, while the number of domestic tourists will rise by 3.5% to 10 million.

Mr. Bloomberg said the increase in international tourists – which follows a 10% increase last year – is particularly important to the city’s economy.

“One of the reasons we like visitors from abroad is that they spend a lot more money than domestic visitors, and it helps stores and restaurants and everyone in this city,” he said. “They spend roughly five times what a domestic visitor spends.”

Mr. Bloomberg said tourism generates $24 billion a year in business activity and supports 300,000 jobs in the city. The chairman of NYC & Company, Jonathan Tisch, said that over the course of the year about 40 million visitors come to New York City from other countries.

Although international tourists compose about 15% of all tourists, according to Mr. Tisch, who is chairman and chief executive of Loews Hotels, they are responsible for about 45% of tourism-generated economic activity.

NYC & Company’s tourism forecasts are based on a number of factors, including historical patterns, Department of Commerce figures, and airport arrivals.

Historically, the projections have been similar to the actual numbers, which for this year will be available in early 2006.

The president and CEO of NYC & Company, Cristyne Nicholas, said her group is not happy to just sit back and hope that international tourists will visit New York.

“We have offices all over the world to attract visitors to New York City, primarily in the UK – that is our no. 1 market – then Canada, Japan, Germany, then Italy and France,” she said, adding that her group has started this year to reach out to “emerging markets,” including Russia, China, Korea, and India.

Those efforts include attending key trade shows, such as ones in Hong Kong and in Kunming, China. NYC & Company officials have also held meetings with key tourism professionals who can sell New York City to clients and with tourist organizations and travel journalists during a five-day “site inspection” of New York City in May.

Mr. Bloomberg said the team is also working to make the city a more attractive travel destination, as well as offering promotions to visitors. The mayor announced yesterday that a new program, Summer Breaks and the Third Night, would allow visitors and New Yorkers to save money at about 300 hotels, restaurants, tours, and museums between now and September 5.

Also yesterday, Travel + Leisure magazine announced that its readers named New York City the “best American city” for the fifth consecutive year.