Um, that is just a classic song. Well, it's no question if you've been in New York over the past few months that the city is back. NYC and Company it's the professional organization that handles marketing for New York City. It says that this year, the city is expected to host fifty six point four million visitors. That's up from thirty two point nine million in which of course saw the onset of the pandemic and a huge decline in
international visitors as well as domestic ones as well. Next year, the organization, though, expects visitors to surpass those twenty nineteen levels, officially declaring New York on the rise once again. We've got with us, Tiffany Townsend exact. You have a vice president for global communications at New York and Company joining us this afternoon via zoom from New York City. Of course, Tiffany, how are you. I'm doing well, that's right, joining you
live from New York City. It's good to be with you, guys. Thanks for having us. It's good to have you with us this afternoon. So talk to me a little bit about what you're seeing when it comes to the data. Because I was on New York and Company website earlier, and you have a host of just fantastic data about tourism, visitors, how much people are spending, how important this is to the overall economy. What makes you think that twenty three is going to bring us back to levels that surpassed
It's really just the activity that we're seeing. I think there's there's been a lot of pent up demand for travel ever since, you know, the borders had started open, and really even before the border started opening, I think you will hear people talk about things like sort of revenge travel, wanting to compensate and make up for lost time, and I think that's really what we're seeing. I think there's always been a desire for people to come to
New York. It's sort of an aspirational destin Asian, So people want to make their first trip and then they come back and they want to come back again. New York is a very dynamic place. It's always changing, and so we like to ruin people that even if you've been here five times, that that next time you're gonna
New Calm is going to be very very different. And so I think the numbers are really beginning to bear that out right now we're expecting that by the end of two we'll see about eighty five percent of our visitation return and that's eighty five of what our record high was of sixty six point six million in twenty nineteen, just before everything closed, and so we're still on track
to see that. We like to sort of leave, uh, we leave leave a little space at the end of the year because the holiday season between Thanksgiving and um and and and New Year's even New Year's is really a time when we tend to see about thirty percent of our incoming visitations. So there's a huge influx of travelers to New York City at this time of year.
And so by by all the indicators that we're seeing, we're going to see about eighty five percent of that visitation return for this year, and that really puts us in a great position and uh to go into three with even higher numbers. It's really interesting, Tiffany. It sounds like you're not having any sort of negative impact from arising COVID cases flu cases. We're still seeing a lot of visitors this year. We're certainly seeing a lot of visitors.
You're in between in this holiday period, we can expect to see about six point five million people, and that's across both domestic and international, and certainly the city has taken um I think, a very proactive approach to providing both protocols and information for both residents and visitors in terms of any concerns or hesitations that they may have
about traveling to New York City. With with COVID cases still still being something that's top of mind for everybody, what about the holidays right in these next couple of weeks and what to what extent we're actually seeing a return to levels or what you predict now I mean are back. We're not back, but we're getting there. In
New York it's it certainly has has returned. So we will see roughly six point five million visitors between now out and and New Year's even so, that really does put us on a continued upward trend which we have seen throughout this year and we also saw it in You will remember that the borders open for a number of countries or uh right around just a little bit
over a year ago. It's probably about November, so and so you know, as restrictions continue to ease globally, that will only continue to bolster UM and and help create that continued influx that's going to get us back to that full recovery. I've got a question for you, Tiffany, as we sit here in Midtown, UM, which is also the neighborhood I choose to live in UM. Nobody really understands why myself included, but because because I can walk to me, because I can walk to work, because we've
got a Trader Joe's here. But I wonder if the death of Midtown quote unquote is impacting holiday activities towards talk about what you mean by that medicine for people who don't spend a lot of time here. I mean, you do walk around the you know, you walk around this part of the city and doesn't look like it looked back in. It's a ghost town. I mean I used to thoroughly enjoy my afternoon shopping breaks at the Zara and American Eagle across the street that have now
just become these empty building mainstays of the neighborhood. But I do think of Midtown as a really good go to spot for a lot of these holiday activations. You've got the Christmas Market, You've got Rockefeller Center. Of course, are we seeing more people flocked to this neighborhood of the city, um to enjoy those holiday activities. Or have we seen that the business crowd working from home is having an impact on that? Well, you are still seeing
that people are continuing to work from home. I think, you know, sort of the office experiences, we know what it is, forever changed by the pandemic. But I think that is a little bit you know, there, there's a little bit of separation between there and what we're seeing for overall leisure travel. And we obviously do make the distinction between how leasure travelers behave and business travelers behave. I will tell you on a personal note, I was
in Midtown last weekend. You're I'm sorry, Tiffany. It was quite it was quite full, which is something that I happen to love to see and so um so I I I. So I think that there there, we're certainly seeing that influx. There are a lot of activations that are taking place throughout the city, certainly on on Sundays in December, to also help sort of manage the crowds and and and continue to invite people in. There are
open streets. I think it's from twelve to six on three Sundays in December, and I think that's a great way to sort of encourage people to come back. And then you have that space along Fifth Avenue to roam and to shop and to see the tree and to see the windows and to see the lights. So it's just really sort of the magic that is New York City at this time of year. Okay, So I was digging into New York and Company, New York and Co.
Uh doing some research ahead of this interview. Tiffany and I had a hard time understanding who exactly funds the organization. Two thousand member organizations I know funded. Are those member organizations? Are they businesses? Is this an association that is supported by businesses within the city. Is it taxpay or funded at all? Because of the economic impact that tourism has on New York. Well, we're a not for profit organization, and part of it is that we are a membership organizations.
So to your point, all of the cities, all all of the businesses, and sort of everything that makes up tourism is a part of who is our our membership. So it's the hotels, it's the museums, it's the attractions, the tour operators, et cetera. So it is a wide variety. But the best way to sort of, UM, help you think about that and give it perspective. It is really all of those all of those businesses and all those organizations that make your your travel experience what it is
and sort of contribute to that. But is there any is there any public funding? Is there any partnership with the City of New York Mayor's office? Yes, we do receive We do receive some some some public funds as well. Is that from the city or from the state? Um? From from from the city primarily cool? Makes sense. Thank you for clearing that up for me. Kind of hard for me to no problem. Have happy to know. It's really interesting. I think, Um, Tim is asking the hard
hitting question here. I just want to know how Tim and I where do you get your money? I just want to know where to spend my time in this incredible city that I love so much. Uh, Tiffany, Tim and I are both going to be working the entire week between Christmas and the New Year. UM, I'm starting to hear that any big fun events that you think we should keep our eyes on, that we should that we should try to play hookey from the chair here
and and experience. Well, I would say, I mean, if you're in midtown and you haven't done the tree and fifth Avenue in the windows, like do do that? That is like the easiest thing. You can run downstairs right right between between segments or you know, before before your show starts, and and and and see the windows and and and see the tree and see all the lights. But there are a lot of you know, there's always a lot of uh, pop up activations. I think you
alluded to this before. Flat Iron, the Flat Iron area and sort of Medicine Square Park has that out in Queens. There's a new amazing light exhibit over city Field. Um, so that that's really exciting. You have the class citics you have up at the Bronx Botanical Garden. You have the Trained show that's you know through I already have tickets for that. Tiffany for January taking the Toddler. They're hard to get tickets. You gotta get them early. The
thing is so popular. Tiffany Townsend, executive vice president for Global Communications at New York and Code, joining us via zoom from of course New York City. You're listening and watching to a Berg Business Week