Sudipta Dev – Mumbai
India is one of the most important emerging markets for New York City. Last year saw more than 263,000 visitors from India and the numbers are expected to grow beyond the forecast of 278,000. The growth is expected in both business as well as leisure travel segment. “We have been in the market for a period of time and we have a well developed strategy to do this. Initially when we came into the market several years ago we were focused on the main iconic tourists attractions in New York City. The focus now is making the Indian visitor understand the diverse offerings of the city – we want to show them the five boroughs,” said Christopher Heywood, senior vice president of global communications, NYC & Company, pointing out that New York is not just Manhattan but also the other four boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island.
There is a focus on new neighbourhood spotlights. Corona, Queens is the next neigbourhood featured in the Insider Guide which was unveiled in India recently as part of NYC & Company’s global ‘new’ New York tour. “We are trying to put a lot of spotlight on Queens. Brooklyn had got a lot of attention as the coolest borough, but now everyone is looking at Queens. We have been doing a lot of work to promote what the borough has to offer,” stated Heywood, adding that, there is a diverse array of experiences across all neighbourhoods and the message is to go below the surface and cultivate and find those authentic New York City experiences.
One of the other focus areas this year is the message about ‘new’ New York. This includes all the unprecedented attractions and developments, hotel supply coming into the market. In terms of new attractions leading the list is the recently opened One World Observatory which is the tallest building in United States. The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration are the other major new attractions.
“This year 10,000 hotels rooms will be added to the rooms inventory in New York which will increase from 103,000 hotel rooms to 113,000 hotel rooms. The next couple of years will see the numbers increase to 124,000 hotel rooms,” mentioned Heywood.