Hard-Hit New York City Will Deploy a Record $30 Million to Woo Back Tourists
Photo Credit: Crowds are slowly returning to Central Park post-vaccine, as the city prepares to bring tourists back. Skift / Tom Lowry
Skift Take
That a city like New York needs significant investment to sell itself to potential tourists speaks loudly of the pandemic’s crushing blow on the iconic destination. Government officials recognize the importance of tourism to the city's economic recovery. The role that its destination marketing organization will play is crucial.
From tourism capital turned Covid epicenter — it seemed almost impossible to reimagine a vibrant Big Apple buzzing with crowds after last year’s devastating images of plastic-wrapped bodies being loaded into mobile morgues. Or with the memory of quarantined residents cheering frontline workers every night from their rooftops and windows as the pandemic ravaged New York City.
But one year later, small signs of local life and recovery have begun emerging, including the return of domestic tourists, thanks to Covid vaccinations, warmer weather and an end to the state’s domestic travel quarantine since April 1.
This early optimism for New York City’s travel industry is now fueled even further with the news this week that the City of New York is allocating $30 million to its destination marketing organization, NYC & Company, for a marketing campaign aimed at speeding up the return of domestic and international tourists. It is the most ever allocated for a city tourism push.
