New New York goes on Netherlands, Ireland and UK promotional tour

NEW YORK, NY – NYC and Company, New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organisation, visited Amsterdam, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow and London as part of a week-long European tour

NEW YORK, NY – NYC and Company, New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organisation, visited Amsterdam, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow and London as part of a week-long European tour to highlight significant openings and developments in the ‘new’ New York City to influential media, key product managers and travel agents selling New York City.

Fred Dixon said, “New York City is experiencing a ground-breaking moment in history, with unrivalled new tourism products that are truly transforming the destination. During this monumental time, we are pleased to present the ‘new’ New York City to influential audiences around the world and, specifically, to European travel media this week. Summer is not only the ideal time to visit these brand-new attractions and hotels but also to take advantage of the City’s many free and affordable activities, ranging from outdoor concerts and festivals to museums and tours.”

NYC & Company’s Global Communications team presented the ‘New’ New York City at three press conferences to 22 media attendees in Amsterdam, 23 in Dublin and 36 in London as part of the organisation’s first ever UK and Ireland media mission coinciding with a three-city European media mission.

Meanwhile, the Global Tourism Development team met with product managers from over 40 key tour operators during two workshops in Dublin and London and hosted 240 travel agents at networking events and agent training workshops in the UK and Ireland. During the trade roadshow, NYC & Company was joined by representatives from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, The Broadway Collection, CityPASS, The Empire State Building Experience, InterContinental New York Times Square/InterContinental New York Barclay, The London NYC and Marriott Hotels of New York City.

New York City is forecasted to receive 220,000 Irish visitors in 2015, up from 217,000 in 2014, while the UK remains the top overseas origin market to New York City with 1,172,000 UK visitors forecasted for 2015, up from 1,139,000 in 2014. Reflecting a steady growth of international visitation year on year (to 12.6 million international visitors in 2015), New York City is on track to welcome 58.1 million visitors in 2015. Earlier this year, Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC & Company’s President and CEO, Fred Dixon, announced New York City is on the ‘Road to 10 Million More Visitors,’ sharing the next tourism forecast of 67 million annual visitors by the end of 2021.

NYC & Company had plenty to shout about on this week’s roadshow as President and CEO, Fred Dixon, and Senior Vice President of Global Communications, Chris Heywood, presented brand-new attractions such as the One World Observatory (opened 29th May), the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration (opened 20th May) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (opened 1st May), in addition to the City’s booming hotel industry, infrastructure improvements, dining scene and more.

Hotel development in New York City remains strong, with a record 102,000 hotel rooms last year and more than 11,000 additional rooms expected by the end of 2015. With inventory expanding to more than 124,000 hotel rooms in the next three years, New York City is more diverse and accessible than ever. New properties range from select-service to luxury and are part of both global portfolios and smaller boutique brands, offering visitors a variety of options when booking travel to New York City. This year alone New York City’s hotel scene saw the opening of the New York EDITION, the Hilton Garden Inn Long Island City, the Baccarat Hotel & Residences, the Knickerbocker and 1 Hotel Central Park.

NYC & Company’s tourism campaigns have been key in providing visitors inspiration for their visit to New York City such as the “NYCGO Insider Guide” series which puts the spotlight on different neighbourhoods and districts across the five boroughs, and the newly launched “Hello Summer” program showcasing New York City as a summer travel destination highlighting key events, activities and festivals taking place over the summer season. From free attractions to outdoor activities, New York City has a lot to offer visitors seeking affordability and value and so NYC & Company has also launched a “Free in NYC” guide which highlights the top free activities the City has to offer.

This week Taylor Swift, the City’s Global Welcome Ambassador as part of the “Welcome to New York” campaign, will be kicking off concerts in Glasgow, Manchester, London and Dublin on her 1989 world tour with her Welcome to New York song. Furthermore, NYC & Company recently announced its first-ever bilingual family tourism campaign starring Dora as the City’s newest Official NYC Family Ambassador. In 2014, the City welcomed an estimated 17.2 million family visitors, a 3% increase from the year before.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...