The desire for New York City is growing

New York City is a city that is always reinventing itself – it is one of the creative centers of the world, an incredible melting pot of cultures and therefore always a worthwhile travel destination. The pandemic hasn’t changed that either, which largely “sealed off” New York, at least for foreign visitors, for two years and temporarily almost shut it down at the height of the lockdown regime. In the last two years, however, major projects have been implemented and new sights created (Travelnews reported on this in an interview this week), and with the restart of tourism in the USA, these are now also being proudly presented at live events .

That’s what NYC & Co., New York City’s tourism marketing organization, did this week as part of a tour that also stopped in Zurich. At the Hotel Ameron Bellerive au Lac, the exciting news was presented to a select group of Swiss tourism professionals – unfortunately there were also a few short-term cancellations due to Corona – as part of a live event. The tenor was: “We’re done with the Zooms.” After a few words of welcome from Reginald Charlot (Managing Director Tourism Market Development, NYC & Co.) and a short news overview from Hannah Peffer (Aviareps, who represents New York City in the German-speaking markets), presentations by the partners present followed.

Claire Chirouze Ulloa, Global Tour & Trade Sales Manager for the brand new Summit One Vanderbilt Observation Deck, started things off. Located in Midtown adjacent to Grand Central Station, the One Vanderbilt skyscraper offers the Summit experience on the top three floors. Think of it as a multi-sensory experience, with art installations, floor-to-ceiling mirrors and, of course, a great view. So you don’t just see New York from above, but also have a whole range of experiences, where the view mixes reflection and transparency and art.

[Artikel geht unter den Bildern weiter]

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This was followed by a presentation by Alexandra Rodriguez (Director of Sales & Marketing), who introduced the Hotel Beacon. This is on Broadway at the corner of 75th Street, ie on the Upper West Side, and offers 278 “apartment style rooms”, ie it sees itself as a “residential hotel”. Proximity to many of the city’s top attractions and accommodations that are generous in size and amenities by New York standards are the key assets of this historic hotel.

Haley Ward (Vice President of Sales) then presented the Hudson Yards. New York’s largest urban project in the last 50 years has created a new district and a new skyline (Travelnews reported on it). A special attraction of the Hudson Yards is the “The Edge” viewing platform, which was officially completed just a few days before the Corona lockdown, which is why many international visitors have yet to get to know this new attraction. The Edge is a 20 meter protruding triangular platform on the 100th floor of the 30 Hudson Yards skyscraper. In addition to a partially permeable floor and incomparable 360-degree views of New York, you can also look down “over the edge” thanks to the slanted windows and drink champagne at the same time. If that’s not enough thrill for you, you can also do the CityClimb at the Edge. You climb a few floors higher on foot and there, just roped up, leaning over the edge of the building without a window or railing, you can look down into the depths.

Then Fabio Basoli (Manager Key Accounts) presented the offer from United Airlines. The US airline flies from Zurich and Geneva to New York-Newark Airport (which, although located in the state of New Jersey, is closer to Manhattan than New York-JFK Airport). As a rule, the aircraft is flown with a Boeing B767-300 in a four-class configuration, i.e. with 46 seats in Polaris (Business) Class, 22 seats in Premium Plus, 43 seats in Economy Plus and 56 seats in Economy. Passengers can benefit from optimal flight times in the morning (arriving in New York in the early afternoon) and, if flying in business, access to the Partner Swiss lounge at Zurich Airport. Also importantly, in-flight WiFi is offered on all flights, and while this is usually chargeable, there is now the option to text messages using iMessage or WhatsApp over the United WiFi for free on certain flights.

In the end, of course, the competition couldn’t be missing. In an entertaining knowledge competition, the participants had to prove that they had paid close attention, and whoever answered faster received more points. Ultimately, Yannick Müller from Travelhouse won the flight and stay in New York with access to the attractions mentioned above. At the end of the event, it was also clear to everyone: It’s time to travel to New York again.

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