Number of tourists to New York reached record level last year after lows following 9/11 - New York Daily News
BY Nicole Lyn Pesce DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, September 8th 2011, 4:00 AM
What a difference10 years makes!
A record 48.8 million people visited New York City last year, spending $31.4 billion and supporting the more than 310,000 New Yorkers working in hotels, restaurants and theaters.
In the days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, New York lost $323.7 million in visitor spending as flight restrictions and fears of another attack kept travelers away, tourism officials say.
Broadway lost $5 million in ticket sales that first week, and five shows simply closed. Hotels, normally at 90% occupancy in autumn, were only half-full. Restaurants lost an estimated $6 million to $10 million a day.
"If we didn't bring people into town, there was the potential for thousands of layoffs," said Jonathan Tisch, CEO of Loews Hotels, who was tapped to head New York Rising to get the city's tourism business back on its feet.
Tisch's team and groups like the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council created programs that became part of the city's cultural fabric.
They include the Tribeca Film Festival and the River to River Festival, which have pumped $726.55 million and $300 million, respectively, into city coffers since 2002.
"So many industry leaders came to the table and helped us with manpower, with ideas, with resources," said Cristyne Nicholas, who was president of NYC & Co. in 2001. "I know we couldn't have done it without everyone's help.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani's top priorities included reopening Broadway.
"I remember his line, 'The best thing you can do for our city is take in a Broadway show,'" LMDC cofounder Matt Higgins said. "It was important to send out a global call to come to New York as a patriotic act."
Discounts like the "Paint the Town Red, White and Blue" promo boosted patriotic tourism with 40% savings on more than 350 restaurants hotels, shows and museums, while "Spend Your Regards to Broadway" rewarded New Yorkers who spent $500 in stores, restaurants and cultural institutions with Broadway tickets.
The "New York Miracle" ad campaign featuring personalities, such as Woody Allen and Barbara Walters, living out their New York fantasies reminded everyone it was OK to laugh again.
BBDO New York produced the six spots, worth more than $10 million, for free in less than a month.
"You had this confluence of music companies, creative people, editors, finishing houses, quintessential celebrity New Yorkers, film crews and the mayor's office just come together as one in a way that I have never seen before," says John Osborne, president and CEO of BBDO NY.
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