Speaker 1: Um, that is just a classic song. Well, it's no
Speaker 1: question if you've been in New York over the past
Speaker 1: few months that the city is back. NYC and Company
Speaker 1: it's the professional organization that handles marketing for New York City.
Speaker 1: It says that this year, the city is expected to
Speaker 1: host fifty six point four million visitors. That's up from
Speaker 1: thirty two point nine million in which of course saw
Speaker 1: the onset of the pandemic and a huge decline in
Speaker 1: international visitors as well as domestic ones as well. Next year,
Speaker 1: the organization, though, expects visitors to surpass those twenty nineteen levels,
Speaker 1: officially declaring New York on the rise once again. We've
Speaker 1: got with us, Tiffany Townsend exact. You have a vice
Speaker 1: president for global communications at New York and Company joining
Speaker 1: us this afternoon via zoom from New York City. Of course, Tiffany,
Speaker 1: how are you. I'm doing well, that's right, joining you
Speaker 1: live from New York City. It's good to be with you, guys.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having us. It's good to have you with
Speaker 1: us this afternoon. So talk to me a little bit
Speaker 1: about what you're seeing when it comes to the data.
Speaker 1: Because I was on New York and Company website earlier,
Speaker 1: and you have a host of just fantastic data about tourism, visitors,
Speaker 1: how much people are spending, how important this is to
Speaker 1: the overall economy. What makes you think that twenty three
Speaker 1: is going to bring us back to levels that surpassed
Speaker 1: It's really just the activity that we're seeing. I think
Speaker 1: there's there's been a lot of pent up demand for
Speaker 1: travel ever since, you know, the borders had started open,
Speaker 1: and really even before the border started opening, I think
Speaker 1: you will hear people talk about things like sort of
Speaker 1: revenge travel, wanting to compensate and make up for lost time,
Speaker 1: and I think that's really what we're seeing. I think
Speaker 1: there's always been a desire for people to come to
Speaker 1: New York. It's sort of an aspirational destin Asian, So
Speaker 1: people want to make their first trip and then they
Speaker 1: come back and they want to come back again. New
Speaker 1: York is a very dynamic place. It's always changing, and
Speaker 1: so we like to ruin people that even if you've
Speaker 1: been here five times, that that next time you're gonna
Speaker 1: New Calm is going to be very very different. And
Speaker 1: so I think the numbers are really beginning to bear
Speaker 1: that out right now we're expecting that by the end
Speaker 1: of two we'll see about eighty five percent of our
Speaker 1: visitation return and that's eighty five of what our record
Speaker 1: high was of sixty six point six million in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: just before everything closed, and so we're still on track
Speaker 1: to see that. We like to sort of leave, uh,
Speaker 1: we leave leave a little space at the end of
Speaker 1: the year because the holiday season between Thanksgiving and um
Speaker 1: and and and New Year's even New Year's is really
Speaker 1: a time when we tend to see about thirty percent
Speaker 1: of our incoming visitations. So there's a huge influx of
Speaker 1: travelers to New York City at this time of year.
Speaker 1: And so by by all the indicators that we're seeing,
Speaker 1: we're going to see about eighty five percent of that
Speaker 1: visitation return for this year, and that really puts us
Speaker 1: in a great position and uh to go into three
Speaker 1: with even higher numbers. It's really interesting, Tiffany. It sounds
Speaker 1: like you're not having any sort of negative impact from
Speaker 1: arising COVID cases flu cases. We're still seeing a lot
Speaker 1: of visitors this year. We're certainly seeing a lot of visitors.
Speaker 1: You're in between in this holiday period, we can expect
Speaker 1: to see about six point five million people, and that's
Speaker 1: across both domestic and international, and certainly the city has
Speaker 1: taken um I think, a very proactive approach to providing
Speaker 1: both protocols and information for both residents and visitors in
Speaker 1: terms of any concerns or hesitations that they may have
Speaker 1: about traveling to New York City. With with COVID cases
Speaker 1: still still being something that's top of mind for everybody,
Speaker 1: what about the holidays right in these next couple of
Speaker 1: weeks and what to what extent we're actually seeing a
Speaker 1: return to levels or what you predict now I mean
Speaker 1: are back. We're not back, but we're getting there. In
Speaker 1: New York it's it certainly has has returned. So we
Speaker 1: will see roughly six point five million visitors between now
Speaker 1: out and and New Year's even so, that really does
Speaker 1: put us on a continued upward trend which we have
Speaker 1: seen throughout this year and we also saw it in
Speaker 1: You will remember that the borders open for a number
Speaker 1: of countries or uh right around just a little bit
Speaker 1: over a year ago. It's probably about November, so and
Speaker 1: so you know, as restrictions continue to ease globally, that
Speaker 1: will only continue to bolster UM and and help create
Speaker 1: that continued influx that's going to get us back to
Speaker 1: that full recovery. I've got a question for you, Tiffany,
Speaker 1: as we sit here in Midtown, UM, which is also
Speaker 1: the neighborhood I choose to live in UM. Nobody really
Speaker 1: understands why myself included, but because because I can walk
Speaker 1: to me, because I can walk to work, because we've
Speaker 1: got a Trader Joe's here. But I wonder if the
Speaker 1: death of Midtown quote unquote is impacting holiday activities towards
Speaker 1: talk about what you mean by that medicine for people
Speaker 1: who don't spend a lot of time here. I mean,
Speaker 1: you do walk around the you know, you walk around
Speaker 1: this part of the city and doesn't look like it
Speaker 1: looked back in. It's a ghost town. I mean I
Speaker 1: used to thoroughly enjoy my afternoon shopping breaks at the
Speaker 1: Zara and American Eagle across the street that have now
Speaker 1: just become these empty building mainstays of the neighborhood. But
Speaker 1: I do think of Midtown as a really good go
Speaker 1: to spot for a lot of these holiday activations. You've
Speaker 1: got the Christmas Market, You've got Rockefeller Center. Of course,
Speaker 1: are we seeing more people flocked to this neighborhood of
Speaker 1: the city, um to enjoy those holiday activities. Or have
Speaker 1: we seen that the business crowd working from home is
Speaker 1: having an impact on that? Well, you are still seeing
Speaker 1: that people are continuing to work from home. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, sort of the office experiences, we know what
Speaker 1: it is, forever changed by the pandemic. But I think
Speaker 1: that is a little bit you know, there, there's a
Speaker 1: little bit of separation between there and what we're seeing
Speaker 1: for overall leisure travel. And we obviously do make the
Speaker 1: distinction between how leasure travelers behave and business travelers behave.
Speaker 1: I will tell you on a personal note, I was
Speaker 1: in Midtown last weekend. You're I'm sorry, Tiffany. It was
Speaker 1: quite it was quite full, which is something that I
Speaker 1: happen to love to see and so um so I
Speaker 1: I I. So I think that there there, we're certainly
Speaker 1: seeing that influx. There are a lot of activations that
Speaker 1: are taking place throughout the city, certainly on on Sundays
Speaker 1: in December, to also help sort of manage the crowds
Speaker 1: and and and continue to invite people in. There are
Speaker 1: open streets. I think it's from twelve to six on
Speaker 1: three Sundays in December, and I think that's a great
Speaker 1: way to sort of encourage people to come back. And
Speaker 1: then you have that space along Fifth Avenue to roam
Speaker 1: and to shop and to see the tree and to
Speaker 1: see the windows and to see the lights. So it's
Speaker 1: just really sort of the magic that is New York
Speaker 1: City at this time of year. Okay, So I was
Speaker 1: digging into New York and Company, New York and Co.
Speaker 1: Uh doing some research ahead of this interview. Tiffany and
Speaker 1: I had a hard time understanding who exactly funds the organization.
Speaker 1: Two thousand member organizations I know funded. Are those member organizations?
Speaker 1: Are they businesses? Is this an association that is supported
Speaker 1: by businesses within the city. Is it taxpay or funded
Speaker 1: at all? Because of the economic impact that tourism has
Speaker 1: on New York. Well, we're a not for profit organization,
Speaker 1: and part of it is that we are a membership organizations.
Speaker 1: So to your point, all of the cities, all all
Speaker 1: of the businesses, and sort of everything that makes up
Speaker 1: tourism is a part of who is our our membership.
Speaker 1: So it's the hotels, it's the museums, it's the attractions,
Speaker 1: the tour operators, et cetera. So it is a wide variety.
Speaker 1: But the best way to sort of, UM, help you
Speaker 1: think about that and give it perspective. It is really
Speaker 1: all of those all of those businesses and all those
Speaker 1: organizations that make your your travel experience what it is
Speaker 1: and sort of contribute to that. But is there any
Speaker 1: is there any public funding? Is there any partnership with
Speaker 1: the City of New York Mayor's office? Yes, we do
Speaker 1: receive We do receive some some some public funds as well.
Speaker 1: Is that from the city or from the state? Um?
Speaker 1: From from from the city primarily cool? Makes sense. Thank
Speaker 1: you for clearing that up for me. Kind of hard
Speaker 1: for me to no problem. Have happy to know. It's
Speaker 1: really interesting. I think, Um, Tim is asking the hard
Speaker 1: hitting question here. I just want to know how Tim
Speaker 1: and I where do you get your money? I just
Speaker 1: want to know where to spend my time in this
Speaker 1: incredible city that I love so much. Uh, Tiffany, Tim
Speaker 1: and I are both going to be working the entire
Speaker 1: week between Christmas and the New Year. UM, I'm starting
Speaker 1: to hear that any big fun events that you think
Speaker 1: we should keep our eyes on, that we should that
Speaker 1: we should try to play hookey from the chair here
Speaker 1: and and experience. Well, I would say, I mean, if
Speaker 1: you're in midtown and you haven't done the tree and
Speaker 1: fifth Avenue in the windows, like do do that? That
Speaker 1: is like the easiest thing. You can run downstairs right
Speaker 1: right between between segments or you know, before before your
Speaker 1: show starts, and and and and see the windows and
Speaker 1: and and see the tree and see all the lights.
Speaker 1: But there are a lot of you know, there's always
Speaker 1: a lot of uh, pop up activations. I think you
Speaker 1: alluded to this before. Flat Iron, the Flat Iron area
Speaker 1: and sort of Medicine Square Park has that out in Queens.
Speaker 1: There's a new amazing light exhibit over city Field. Um,
Speaker 1: so that that's really exciting. You have the class citics
Speaker 1: you have up at the Bronx Botanical Garden. You have
Speaker 1: the Trained show that's you know through I already have
Speaker 1: tickets for that. Tiffany for January taking the Toddler. They're
Speaker 1: hard to get tickets. You gotta get them early. The
Speaker 1: thing is so popular. Tiffany Townsend, executive vice president for
Speaker 1: Global Communications at New York and Code, joining us via
Speaker 1: zoom from of course New York City. You're listening and
Speaker 1: watching to a Berg Business Week