Next Corona easing in New York – and when are tourists coming?

For ten years in a row, the New York City Tourism Authority was able to announce one record after another. The number of visitors to the US east coast metropolis climbed to new heights, in 2019 to almost 67 million. Then came Corona.

NYC & Company expected a new record for this year. However, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the tourism authority not only had to revise all forecasts for 2020 downwards, it also had to release more than half of its own employees.

The pandemic hit the place of longing for millions of people around the world particularly hard. More than 210,000 of New York’s 8.4 million residents have already contracted the virus, and around 23,000 have died after being infected. In the meantime, however, the numbers are falling steadily – also thanks to extensive restrictions on public life.

The third phase of the relaxation can therefore start on Monday (July 6th): After, among other things, construction work in the first phase and hairdressing salons, shops and outdoor areas of restaurants in the second, nail salons and tattoo shops, for example, will be allowed to reopen their doors. Distance and hygiene rules continue to apply.

“New Yorkers have shown incredible resilience to this crisis and thanks to their hard work we are on track for phase three,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. However, one restriction had to be made: unlike previously planned, restaurants, bars and cafés are not allowed to reopen their interior areas at the beginning of the third phase. This is also due to the fact that in many other US states that opened completely again some time ago, the number of new infections has recently increased dramatically.

The former epicenter of the pandemic in the USA is now in better shape, but it will be a long way to go before the tourists from abroad can come back to the densely populated metropolis. At the moment, there are still extensive entry bans in place for many countries – including Germany – the end of which is not yet in sight. But even if the tourists can come then, they will probably find a changed city.

Many attractions such as the Broadway theaters or the Metropolitan Opera have already announced that they will not open again before 2021. The city administration is starting to think about converting hotel rooms into affordable living space for those in need.

“I’m an optimist. I hope that around Christmas the tourists from abroad will come back,” says Erol Inanc. The 53-year-old from Munich has lived in the city for almost 30 years and organizes complete packages for couples who want to get married in New York. Inanc took care of the last wedding in December. “Since then, the business has completely collapsed. I don’t even get any emails most days.” Inanc was able to fall back on savings and supported his girlfriend, who as a nurse also looked after Covid patients, in the household. “This is the worst crisis I’ve experienced here in New York because it has eaten into the city. There’s a new humility and humility.”

The Seafarers International House in Manhattan, the former German Seaman’s Mission from New York, normally sleeps around 38,000 people a year. The guest house had to close in March and then housed Covid 19 patients for a few months, who recovered there after a hospital stay. It is currently unclear when regular overnight guests will be welcomed again, says Henryk Behnke, who has lived in New York since 1998 and has been working for the Seafarers International House for some time. The Berliner is currently advising family and friends from Germany not to come back to New York before spring 2021. “The city has changed,” says the 52-year-old. “But it is to be hoped that their essence remains.”

Sanel Huskanovic hopes that tourists from Europe may come to New York again in October or November. The 38-year-old, who was born in Bosnia and later came to Germany as a war refugee, usually runs a travel agency, mainly for German-speaking tourists, very close to Times Square. “The energy of the city has changed enormously, because there are about five million tourists a month missing. That’s a lot of energy and a lot of people – a lot of happy people.”

Many of the more than 600,000 people who normally travel to New York from Germany each year book tours and excursions with Huskanovic. He looked after the last guests in March, and now Huskanovic can no longer pay the rent for the office and apartment and sleeps on the sofa with friends. But he’s not giving up, says Huskanovic – just like New York. “The city has fallen so often, but has always risen. That’s why I love New York so much, because it keeps reinventing itself. Here I learned that you have to see a crisis as an opportunity.”

Source: dpa

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