Photo by Leslie Kalohi / nevercoolinschool.com via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

Los Angeles, we have good economic news! The city's marketing and travel bureau announced today that tourism is up, bringing more people, thus more money to the City of Angels.

In 2011, a record 26.9 million people visited L.A. and spent an estimated $15.2 billion, according to City News Service. True, we don't really want anymore people clogging up our roadways, hogging tables at our eateries and lining up at our museums, but let's face it - we can definitely use the mula.

The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau (LA INC.) says the number of visitors represents a 4.2% increase over 2010's tourism numbers. Though the boost in bodies isn't particularly good for the locals time and patience-wise, the "impressive growth," as described by bureau head Mark Liberman, was "experienced in all areas of our city as indicated by increased occupancy at hotels and attendance at restaurants, attractions and cultural institutions.''

Liberman explained the significance of the increase for L.A.'s economy, stating that "one out of ten jobs are related to tourism," an industry that "employs 364,000 persons."

More international tourists visited Los Angeles last year than in 2010, most notably Australians. Spending about $5.5 billion (a 12% increase from 2010), international visitors totaled about 5.9 million people. Tourists from our northern and southern neighbors, Canada and Mexico, increased as well. A reported 675,000 Canadians visited L.A. in 2010, making it a record year for northern tourists. (Could this Canadian influx be thanks to Ryan Gosling and Justin Bieber?) Chinese and Japanese tourists also flocked to L.A. last year more so than in 2010, which was no surprise for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

"L.A. is the gateway to the Pacific Rim and we are doing everything we can to strengthen our ties to the region," said Villaraigosa. "We are committed to increasing tourism to L.A. because it means more jobs for Angelenos." As evidence of said efforts, three flights from China to LAX were added last year.

LA INC. projects that the U.S. Travel Association conference in April, Hollywood's Cirque du Soleil show and an improved Natural History Museum dinosaur exhibit could all help to make 2012 another winning year for tourism.

What can we say? 26.9 million people love L.A.