NYC & COMPANY
New Yorkers, Come Visit New York
Are skyrocketing gas prices nixing your vacation plans? Here's a cheap getaway: Stay home.
NYC & Company is launching a new campaign this week called "Go Local."
"We're somewhat bored with the word 'staycation,'" noted George Fertitta, CEO of the city's tourism agency.
Beginning Thursday, NYC & Company street crews will be hitting up all the major transit hubs, passing out pamphlets about all the events, activities, and attractions happening right here in the five boroughs -- things like the Governors Island Folk Music Festival, Latino Film Fest, and, yes, those makeshift waterfalls that everyone seems to be talking about.
"This isn't a consolation prize -- this is as good as it gets," said Mr. read more »
Hotelier Tisch Checks Out As City Tourism Chief
Jonathan Tisch, your New York Giants just won the Super Bowl! What are you going to do now?
"It's time to move on," Mr. Tisch told the Times on Sunday, announcing that he's stepping down as chairman of NYC & Company, the city's tourism agency.
The 54-year-old co-owner of the Giants and CEO of the Loews Hotels chain, whose properties include the 353-room Regency at 540 Park Avenue, helped spearhead efforts to resuscitate the city's wounded tourism industry after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Besides winning the Super Bowl, Mr. Tisch can also boast of attaining an all-time-high annual tourism level of 46.3 million visitors in 2007. read more »
Japanese Tourists Love New York A Little Less Each Year
A breakdown of the city's latest tourism estimates suggests that Britons (1.46 million), Canadians (880,000), and Germans (470,000) comprised the biggest crowds of international visitors to New York in 2007.
Numbers were up among all groups last year -- including the roughly 300,000 residents of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, weirdly categorized as "BeNeLux" -- except for one, the Japanese. read more »
Weak Dollar = Big Tourism Bucks: Hotel Rates Now Nearly $300 A Night! Even Canadians In On the Action
"We are incredibly grateful for the weak dollar," quipped George Fertitta, head of the city's tourism office NYC & Company.
Mr. Fertitta joined Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Lieber in crediting "beneficial exchange rates" for boosting tourism to record levels in 2007.
An estimated 46 million total travelers visited New York last year, contributing some $28 billion to the local economy, according to the city's latest projections, which officials presented at a press conference at Pier 88 on Sunday alongside the docked Queen Victoria cruise ship. read more »
