NYC & Company, New York City’s official tourism and marketing organisation, announced at last week’s International Pow Wow in Los Angeles that New York City has set a new goal to generate US$70 billion in economic impact from travel and tourism by 2015. Building on a new visitation goal to attract 55 million visitors in this same time period, NYC & Company continues to expand its efforts with particular focus on attracting international visitors, who account for 50% of direct tourism spending.
Based on new strategies and programmes, New York City estimates that, in addition to increasing its economic impact across the five boroughs, the tourism industry will also contribute up to $45 billion in direct spending to the city and add 30,000 new jobs to the workforce by 2015 – bringing the tourism workforce to upwards of 350,000 jobs across the five boroughs.
In 2011, New York City met and exceeded its goal to attract 50 million visitors by 2012, a year ahead of schedule – a first in New York City history. In 2011, Irish visitors to the city totalled 214,000, and this figure is forecast to increase to 238,000 visitors annually by 2015.
The press conference was held at International Pow Wow in Los Angeles by NYC & Company Chief Executive and Brand USA Vice Chair George Fertitta during the same week that Brand USA announced a new international marketing campaign to boost travel to the USA.
“This announcement is another reminder of the important role tourism plays in New York City,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Every visitor that comes to our city and every dollar they spend is critically important to our economy. After reaching a milestone 50 million visitors last year and setting our sights on attracting 55 million visitors by 2015, it is great to see the industry prepared to reach new heights.”
“New York City continues to hold a majority of the market share for international visitors, and we plan to build on this momentum, growing our industry to an estimated $70 billion industry for New York City,” said George Fertitta. “These new projections illustrate just how important future visitors are to the city’s economic well-being and the essential role tourism plays in sustaining the energy and vibrancy of the five boroughs. We have identified key growth markets and will be launching initiatives to keep our record-breaking momentum going through 2015 and beyond.”
The new spending and economic impact estimates are based on the city’s aggressive efforts to attract emerging international markets and new visitor demographics including youth, LGBT and family markets. As the economic issues across Europe currently impact on traditional, core markets in this region, NYC & Company continues to invest in these markets, but will also look to develop initiatives in new and emerging markets around the globe – particularly Latin America, China and India.
In 2011, New York City attracted a record estimated 50.5 million visitors, who generated more than $48 billion in economic impact. At the beginning of the year, Mayor Bloomberg set a new goal to welcome 55 million annual visitors by 2015. In addition, New York City has continued to maintain its position as the most popular US city destination for international visitors, the nation’s number one port of entry and the number one city destination for tourism spending.
