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NYC & Company, the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization, announced the first quarter 2010 results for the City’s travel and tourism industry. Many indicators of the City’s performance-from visitor figures to hotel and attraction performance-show clear signs of a turnaround. During the first quarter of the year, the City welcomed an estimated 10.6 million total visitors to the City’s five boroughs, a 11 percent increase over the same period last year. An average five thousand jobs were added to the City’s leisure and hospitality during each of the first three months of the year and international visitor spending rose an estimated 13 percent to $2.2 billion. The announcement took place during International Pow Wow, the travel industry’s premier international marketplace and the largest generator of travel to the U.S., which took place in Orlando, Florida.
“The City’s tourism industry is showing signs of strength and resilience, and we’re still on track to achieve Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s goal of 50 million annual visitors by 2012. Key indicators are showing signs of vitality throughout many segments of the City’s tourism industry,” said George Fertitta, NYC & Company’s CEO.
During the first quarter of 2010, hotel occupancies in New York City rose 8.7 percent to 73.8 percent, even as the City continued to add more hotel rooms to its inventory. Total room nights sold also increased 10 percent to 5.3 million during the first quarter.
Broadway also showed sizeable increases in the number of tickets sold during the first quarter-close to 2.7 million theater tickets were purchased, a 5.9 percent increase over the same quarter in 2009. Broadway revenues reached $228.5 million during the same period, representing a 14 percent uptick.
Amtrak non-commuter arrivals to the City continued to show that more people are visiting the City from the region, with the number of non-commuter arrivals increasing 8.9 percent to 860,800 arrivals.
Popular tourist attractions and arts organization are also registering increases-during the first quarter, attendance rose on average 8 percent.
New York City became the most popular U.S. destination for travel in 2009. Last year, the City welcomed 45.6 million visitors who spent approximately $28 billion. By year-end, the City is expected to add 7,000 rooms to its hotel inventory, bringing the total to 87,000 hotel rooms throughout the five boroughs.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
