New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC & Company, the official marketing organization of New York City, announced yesterday that 2017 was the eighth record tourism year in a row.
The city welcomed 62.8 million tourists in 2017, an increase of 2.3 million compared to 2016. Of these, 49.7 million came from home and 13.1 million from abroad, both a record number. “We are keeping the door to the world open,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Even with all the headwinds from the White House, we’ve drawn record numbers of visitors to our city. It proves how strong our tourism sector is.”
Political Challenges
“Despite political challenges and a travel ban, which made our promotional responsibilities more challenging than ever, we are pleased to see that we have overcome these hurdles and achieved the eighth consecutive year of tourism growth in New York City, with a record 62, 8 million visitors last year.Our strong Asia and South America market helped to offset the decline in our traditional European market.At the same time, the city continued to innovate, offering countless reasons to visit and discover our five boroughs said Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company.
Campaigns
In 2017, NYC & Company launched two campaigns: ‘New York City – Welcoming the World’ and ‘True York City’, positioning NYC as a must-visit destination. Overall, tourism grew 3.8% compared to 2016, when NYC welcomed 60.5 million visitors. The number of domestic tourists in the city grew by 3.9%, from 47.8 million visitors in 2016 to 49.7 million in 2017. The number of international tourists also increased, by 3.4%, from 12.7 million visitors in 2016 to 13.1 million in 2017.
“The world loves New York and we love our tourists. Not only for the economic boost their visit brings, but also for the enthusiasm and energy they bring to our city. Our world-famous attractions include the Theater District, Times Square and the High Line – and that’s just in my district. I want to thank everyone who comes here and everyone who works to make visitors feel at home in the Big Apple,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson .
Emily K. Rafferty, president of NYC & Company said, “Tourism continues to be an important part of New York City’s economy and we are thrilled to have welcomed record numbers of visitors year after year. Despite the setbacks we faced last year “The city’s unique vibrancy and energy has set another record. I want to thank the NYC & Company board and the organization’s 2,000 private companies for this eighth record year in a row.”
Active hotel application development
NYC has the most active hotel application development in the United States. Even with the 4,000 new rooms added to the hotel inventory last year, bringing the total to nearly 116,500 rooms, demand remained strong. Last year, the city sold a record 36.4 million hotel room nights, an increase of 4.5% from 2016. In 2017, 6.2 million meeting and convention participants attended the city’s five boroughs, adding to the total of 13 million business travelers that came to New York City.
NYC & Company signed more international City-to-City tourism partnerships than ever before to boost travel between the various new cities. Includes new partnerships with Cape Town, Toronto, Tokyo and extensions with Mexico City and Seoul. These partnerships include media exchanges to further promote New York City abroad.
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