New York City Achieved Record High Visitors, Visitor Spending in 2008

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert C. Lieber, and NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta announced that New York City attracted an estimated 47 million visitors and $30 billion in total spending in 2008, both record highs. The latest tourism numbers surpass the 46 million visitors and $28.9 billion New York City attracted in 2007.

International tourism accounted for the increase, with an additional one million international visitors coming to the City in 2008, bringing the total to 9.8 million. This past year, NYC & Company, the City’s marketing, tourism, and partnership organization, completed its planned global expansion to 25 international markets, launched domestic and international marketing campaigns, and opened new convention sales offices in California and Illinois.

Last year, the City surpassed top destinations such as Orlando and Las Vegas to rank number one in tourism spending in the United States for the first time. NYC & Company projects record tourism numbers will keep New York in the top spot for 2008. Despite the economic downturn, New York City’s hotel occupancy rate remains more than 20 percentage points higher than the national average. The announcement took place at Rockefeller Center.

In 2008, NYC & Company also launched a new communications and marketing campaign, “Go Local,” aimed at encouraging New Yorkers and tri-state residents to visit the five boroughs during the summer months.

Popular citywide marketing campaigns were also rolled out, such as NYC & Company’s bi-annual Restaurant Week promotion, the Harlem for the Holidays shopping campaign, the bi-annual Signature Collection Third Night luxury hotels promotion, and the tourism savings programs Winter in the City and Summer in the City. The year was also highlighted by the popular public art exhibition, The New York City Waterfalls, which NYC & Company heavily promoted both domestically and internationally.

New York City’s hotel occupancy rates continued to top the national average in 2008 by at least twenty percentage points despite the economic downturn. The City added 1,800 net rooms to its hotel inventory, bringing the total to roughly 75,600 rooms, and in 2008, room demand increased 2 percent. Through September, attendance at New York City visitor attractions and cultural organizations rose 14 percent over the same period last year, according to NYC & Company estimates.