NEW YORK CITY TOURISM OFFICIALS ATTEND THE NATIONS PREMIER INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL MARKETPLACE TO PROMOTE FIVE BOROUGHS

NEW YORK CITY TOURISM OFFICIALS ATTEND THE NATION’S PREMIER INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL MARKETPLACE TO PROMOTE FIVE BOROUGHS

—NYC & Company Delegation Joins More Than 1,000 U.S. Travel Organizations, 1,200 Travel Buyers and Nearly 500 Journalists at IPW to Promote United States’ Number One Big City Destination—

—NYC & Company to Sponsor Tuesday’s IPW Luncheon in Partnership with Broadway Collection—

Chicago, IL (April 7, 2014) — NYC & Company, New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization, is promoting travel to New York City this week during IPW to an influential audience of over 1,200 international and domestic buyers from more than 70 countries and nearly 500 travel journalists from around the world. Ten New York City–based members are accompanying NYC & Company this week at the five-day travel trade show, considered the largest generator of travel to the United States. At IPW, NYC & Company will highlight new citywide destination and hotel updates and promote travel to the City’s five boroughs. In addition, NYC & Company will join the Broadway Inbound to host Tuesday’s IPW luncheon, featuring performances by the casts of several popular Broadway shows (Cabaret, Motown, Les Misérables, Pippin, Rocky, and Beautiful – The Carole King Musical) and celebrity emcee Norm Lewis.

“New York City is one of the world’s most dynamic travel destinations, welcoming record numbers of domestic and international visitors year after year,” said NYC & Company’s President and CEO Fred Dixon. “This week, we look forward to showcasing the energy, diversity and excitement of the City to a global audience while spotlighting the multi-faceted neighborhoods across the five boroughs.”

During IPW, NYC & Company will share plans to continue Neighborhood x Neighborhood, a global marketing and communications program (information at nycgo.com/nxn) designed to support local businesses and encourage tourism in neighborhoods outside traditional tourist locations across the five boroughs. Each month, NYC & Company promotes a new neighborhood—since the program’s launch last year, it has spotlighted many neighborhoods including Williamsburg, Fort Greene and Bushwick; the South Bronx; Lower Manhattan; Long Island City; Tompkinsville; Arthur Avenue; Corona, Forest Hills and Jackson Heights; and Coney Island. This month, NYC & Company is featuring the Lower East Side as part of the ongoing neighborhood campaign. NYC & Company’s tourism development team has also rolled out Travel Trade Tool Kits to make it easier for tour operators and travel agents to sell and package areas such as Lower Manhattan; Downtown Brooklyn and its surrounding neighborhoods; and Long Island City, Queens. More information at nycgo.com/traveltrade.

New York City continues to evolve, always offering a wide variety of things to see, do and experience throughout the five boroughs. During IPW, NYC & Company will promote upcoming destination developments, including the 9/11 Memorial Museum opening on May 21; the opening of the Thunderbolt roller coaster on May 22 in Coney Island; the re-opening of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum this Fall; and the completion of the third phase of the High Line. In addition, NYC & Company will promote new transportation offerings including expanded air lift from key international markets as well as local transportation offerings such as enhanced ferry service and the extension of the Number 7 subway line to Manhattan’s Far West Side. Future developments such as the Spring 2015 openings of the One World Observatory at the One World Trade Center building in Lower Manhattan and the new home of Whitney Museum of American Art in the Meatpacking District will be showcased along with the 2016 opening of the the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets complex on Staten Island.

Member businesses accompanying NYC & Company at IPW this week include 9/11 Memorial & Museum; Carnegie Hall; Discovery Times Square; Gemini Hospitality; Heartland Brewery; Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum; The New York Pass; Top of the Rock Observation Deck; TravelAdvocates; and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Last year, New York City welcomed a record 54.3 million visitors (42.9 million domestic, 11.4 million international), generating direct spending of $39.4 billion and $58.7 billion in economic impact. Tourism is the City’s fifth largest industry, supporting 350,000 people across all five boroughs. Since 2006, the City’s market share of overseas travel has expanded from 28 to 33 percent, with each increase in share point representing $750 million in direct spending. The City is on track to achieve 55 million annual visitors by the end of this year, one full year of the original 2015 timeline.

NYC & Company will be at booth 1224 during IPW. For NYC & Company social media updates during the show, please refer to @nycgo_press on Twitter and hashtag #IPW14.

For more information on discovering New York City’s five boroughs, go to nycgo.com.  Media can visit nycgo.com/press for NYC & Company’s latest news and nycgo.com/pressphotos to access five-borough imagery.   

About NYC & Company:
NYC & Company is the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide. For more information, visit nycgo.com.

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