The USA is currently still “off limits” for the Swiss. In this case, not because of the BAG’s list of risk countries, but because the USA currently still has an entry ban for travelers from the Schengen area, Great Britain / Ireland, China, Iran, Brazil and South Africa in force. Of course, this has led to a dramatic drop in visitor numbers in the USA. But at home, people are already busy traveling again and there is intensive lobbying for the opening of these important source markets to foreign tourists as well.
Now New York City is rushing forward. The tourist magnet on the US east coast was originally hit particularly hard by Corona, but now there is largely a “new normal” again, which is why the tourist comeback is now being sought. And there is no mess: At a press conference by the tourism marketing company NYC & Company yesterday (April 21), Fred Dixon (President & CEO, NYC & Company), New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and boss Daniel Boulud presented the “NYC Reawakens” campaign . $ 30 million was allocated for this marketing communications campaign; it will start in June. The aim is to bring the “sleeping giant” back to life from a tourist point of view.
They are very optimistic: NYC & Company is expecting 36.4 million visitors again in 2021, which would be more than half the volume of 2019 (66.6 million people visited the city at the time). In 2020, only 22.3 million visitors were recorded. As early as 2024, the number of 2019 is to be exceeded again. This is realistic insofar as the current focus is primarily on the domestic market. If there was an international opening, the demand would certainly be there again quickly – perhaps only in the area of business travel not quite at the previous level, but in this area too, New York City, as a world economic metropolis, is likely to record strong business again in the future. In this context, it should be mentioned that the Javits Center convention center in Manhattan has been further expanded and therefore more exhibition / event space is available than before the crisis. And: By the end of the year, 110,000 hotel rooms should be bookable in New York City. In addition, various new hotel projects were presented. The hotel market in New York remains on the move!
In the following video, Fred Dixon (left in the picture) guides you through the city and explains what reawakening is all about [Text geht unter dem Video weiter]:
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To ensure that you are prepared for the demand, it was emphasized what New York City has to offer – including, as usual, a lot of new things. Roger Dow, CEO of the US Travel Association, was hooked up and praised New York’s commitment to leading the way in the recovery of tourism in the United States and thereby underscoring the importance of the tourism sector as a whole.
First of all, however, one will focus on domestic or even local tourism. The immediately announced campaign “Wish You Were Here in NYC»Aims to encourage New Yorkers to encourage their friends and relatives to take a trip to New York. Customizable invitation emails have been prepared for this. It was also announced that there will be another «NYC Summer Restaurant Week»Will give – from July 20 to August 15, 2021, countless restaurants will participate again. And in target group-specific marketing, a «The Black Experience in NYC»Launched; special offers for Latinos and AAPIs (Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders) are in preparation.
There is essential information on all the news in New York City with this link. And as a reminder: You can now fly comfortably from Zurich to New York again.
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