The New York Times Travel Show, presented by American Express, announced that 19,260 visitors, including approximately 4,000 trade…
The New York Times Travel Show, presented by American Express, announced that 19,260 visitors, including approximately 4,000 trade professionals, attended its inaugural show, which was held in New York City from February 27-29 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. At this major consumer exhibition and trade event, with exhibitors from around the world, consumers were able to plan and book their next vacation, no matter where they wanted to go or how they wanted to get there.
We wish to thank all of our sponsors and exhibitors for helping us deliver the quality show our readers expect from us, said Jyll Holzman, senior vice president, advertising, The New York Times. Together we created a travel show that was a fun and rewarding experience for the travel industry professionals, and for consumers looking for great travel ideas.
American Express is extremely pleased to have joined with The New York Times in its first ever travel show, said Cynthia Valles, senior vice president and general manager of American Express Travel. The strong interest in the show and its high attendance are evidence that people are ready to travel again. Our travel counselors booked cruises, tours and international trips, and the show generated a terrific amount of leads for future sales.
Ms. Valles continued: And we`ve been equally pleased that seventy-five per cent of show attendees used their American Express card to pay for their admission to the show.
More than 250 exhibitors from around the world came together for three days in the nation`s largest travel market. The show boasted nine global pavilions and two industry pavilions. It was presented by American Express and sponsored by Air Jamaica, Amtrak and Carnival Cruise Lines. Additionally, Sandals sponsored the dive pool, and Ruffino Wines provided wine samples at its booth throughout the weekend. IZOD outfitted the staff at the show and New York State Tourism sponsored the I Love NY stage that hosted cultural events throughout the show. Pentax offered two seminars on using digital cameras. JetBlue Airways and Westin Hotels offered exciting travel prizes, including free airline tickets and hotel stays.
Various exhibitors noted the following:
What separates this show from other consumer shows is the knowledge level of the attendees — they did their research, they asked questions and they were generally familiar with our market, the Caribbean, said Joel B. Grossman, director at Curacao Tourist Board.
I`ve been in the hotel industry for more than 20 years and have attended many trade shows and events, James Fallon, vice president of global sales, Raffles International Hotels and Resorts. The reality is The New York Times Travel Show far exceeded all expectations because of the high quality agencies present and the knowledge level of the public, who obviously read The New York Times Travel section. It was a delight to spend quality time sharing our knowledge with such a well-traveled audience.
The New York Times and American Express are to be congratulated for staging this event, which allowed travel industry suppliers to network with the travel agents and consumers, said Alec Sanguinetti, director general and CEO of the Caribbean Hotel Association. The Caribbean suppliers in particular were extremely pleased with the high volume of visitors to the event, and to have the opportunity through the seminars offered to further educate the consumers on the many varied advantages of vacationing in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Hotel Association looks forward to the successful continuation of this event on an annual basis.
Eda Ruddock, manager, tourism marketing, Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said: It`s the best consumer show we`ve gone to. The audience was seriously interested in buying trips. We are selective in the consumer shows we participate in but we decided to go because this was affiliated with The New York Times.
Maryanne W. Kusaka, former mayor, County of Kauai: This is our first time in New York and we are so pleased we came. We`ve gone through all our materials and had incredible interest, particularly for honeymoon vacations. And we have loved the promotional support and news coverage — no other show does that.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
