Photo by army.arch

Tourists! We joke and complain about their befuddled ways, and fill our “Overheard in D.C.” column with all the inane things that come out of their mouths, but, of course, they’re also serving a very important purpose: fueling our local economy.

The District saw a record number of visitors flow through last year, with 18.9 million visiting the city for either work or pleasure, and spending about $6.2 billion on the local economy in the process.

Destination D.C., the city’s tourism bureau, is releasing its annual report today, and says the number of people who passed through the city last year set a new record. All those visitors’ spending amounted for a $4.8 billion economic bounce; additionally, tourist spending accounted for half the District’s sales tax collections last year, Destination D.C. says.

Of the nearly 19 million who visited the District last year, 16.8 million were domestic travelers.

Tourism dollars also supported 75,300 jobs in 2012, with wages increasing 3.4 percent over 2011. However, the total number of tourism-related jobs actually decreased slightly from the year before, Destination D.C. says. Spending on air travel remained level, but overall transportation expenses increased 6 percent. Dining expenses by tourists increased 5 percent, while entertainment spending increased 3 percent.