NYC & COMPANYS TOURISM READY INITIATIVE BEGINS IN QUEENS

4/1/15


NYC & COMPANY’S TOURISM READY INITIATIVE
BEGINS IN QUEENS



NYC & Company Leads Over 70 Businesses and Attractions in Boosting Tourism, Local Spending and Job Creation



New York City (April 1, 2015) — NYC & Company today launched its latest Queens tourism initiative at the Queens Museum, empowering borough businesses and attractions to collaborate in order to more effectively harness the power of tour operators and boost local economic activity.

Tourism Ready, NYC & Company’s newest initiative, is inspired in part by former Borough President Marty Markowitz’s success in branding and increasing tourism to Brooklyn during his 12-year borough presidency. Now, as NYC & Company’s VP of Borough Engagement and Promotion, Markowitz is working with the destination marketing nonprofit organization to strengthen tourism to all boroughs.



“Queens is ‘The World’s Borough,’ and the world is catching on after Lonely Planet named the borough the number one United States destination for 2015!” said Markowitz. “NYC & Company’s Tourism Ready initiative is going to make sure local businesses and attractions are more ready than ever to greet the world when it comes to visit.”



“Queens is a wonderful place to live and work,” said Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. “We have an amazing array of restaurants, shops, museums and performing arts venues that reflect our borough’s diversity, representing over 120 countries and more than 135 languages. I commend NYC & Company for launching this important initiative that will highlight ‘The World’s Borough’ for tourists from around the globe.”



For the next year, Tourism Ready will bring the expertise of NYC & Company to borough businesses and attractions. Under the guidance of Jen Ackerson, a destination marketing expert and NYC & Company consultant, those businesses will be guided through a collaborative process that enables cross promotion, packaging of goods and services, and engagement with the tourism trade to increase visitation and visitor spending locally.



Tourism Ready builds on NYC & Company’s longtime commitment to bringing the benefits of tourism to Queens. The borough is featured at nycgo.com/queens and will soon be spotlighted in the international campaign NYCGO Insider Guides. In 2014 Flushing, Rockaway, Jamaica Bay and Astoria were promoted around the world as must-visit neighborhoods as part of NYC & Company’s Neighborhood x Neighborhood program. NYC & Company leads international media on tours of various Queens neighborhoods as well, increasing coverage of the borough in articles read by visitors who then include a trip to the borough in their New York City itinerary.



About NYC & Company:
NYC & Company is New York City’s official destination marketing nonprofit organization, 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 212-484-1270
           NYC & Company / Dena Libner 212-484-1270