NYC & COMPANY PRESENTS NEW NEW YORK CITY TO TRAVEL, LIFESTYLE AND FOREIGN MEDIA

NYC & COMPANY PRESENTS “NEW” NEW YORK CITY TO TRAVEL, LIFESTYLE AND FOREIGN MEDIA

—Event Highlights Include New Five Borough Tourism Infrastructure, Hotels, Restaurants, Attractions and Big Events, Plus Updates to Official NYC Family Ambassador Program—

New York City (May 31, 2017) — At a press conference this morning at the recently-opened Whitby Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, NYC & Company presented destination updates and highlights of the “New” New York City to an audience of 100 key New York City travel and lifestyle journalists and US-based international media correspondents. 

NYC & Company president and CEO Fred Dixon and Senior Vice President of Global Communications Chris Heywood outlined new developments including hotels, infrastructure, attractions, public art and more, as well as major events coming to New York City.

“The ‘New’ New York City is experiencing a period of momentous growth with groundbreaking developments across all five boroughs, making this the ideal moment to provide a timely update to crucial media audiences right here in our backyard,” said Dixon. 

The City’s many evolving neighborhoods continue to provide visitors with a range of diverse and authentic experiences. Highlights include the “New” Midtown with new attractions Gulliver’s Gate (opened May 9), National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey (debuting October 2017) and NFL Experience Times Square (November 2017). Upcoming developments in Staten Island’s Destination St. George include the Empire Outlets (Mid-2018) and the New York Wheel (June 2018). And in the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States, Hudson Yards will debut in 2018–19 with 17 million square feet of commercial and residential space, including the City’s first Neiman Marcus department store, a 150-room Equinox hotel, Thomas Heatherwick’s Vessel, a new observation deck and restaurants curated by renowned chefs.

New York City has the most active hotel development pipeline in the country, with 113,000 hotel rooms as of May 2017 and an expected inventory of 137,000 hotel rooms by 2019. Noteworthy hotel property openings in 2017 include 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge (opened February 2017), The Whitby Hotel (debuted February 2017), 50 Bowery (opened May 2017), MOXY NYC Times Square (coming August 2017), Public, an Ian Schrager Hotel (June 2017) and The Hoxton Brooklyn (late 2017) New York EDITION Times Square (early 2018).

Blockbuster events coming to the five boroughs include the International Indian Film Academy Festival (July 14-15, 2017), New York City ePrix (July 15-16, 2017), The Presidents Cup (September 25-October 1, 2017), Leonard Bernstein at 100 (2017-18), The 60th Annual Grammy Awards (2018) and World Pride (2019).

During the event Heywood also announced the second phase of the organization’s partnership with Official NYC Family Ambassadors the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. With new campaign artwork featuring itinerary-style illustrations and itinerary content on nycgo.com, the program now also includes interactive SMS technology for visitor engagement. In addition, he highlighted this summer’s 25th Anniversary of NYC Restaurant Week, taking place July 24–August 19 with reservations opening July 10.

New York City welcomed 60.7 million visitors in 2016, the City’s seventh consecutive year for record-breaking tourism, with 48 million domestic and 12.7 million international visitors. The destination is expected to welcome 61.7 million visitors in 2017.

About NYC & Company

NYC & Company is the official destination marketing 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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Contact: NYC & Company / Chris Heywood 212-484-5458
Britt Hijkoop / 212-484-5458