Wall Street knows all too well about the ailing dollar. But New York City’s tourism industry is seemingly immune, with 86 percent hotel occupancy and a robust $300 average room rate. In terms of hotel development, there are currently 72,000 rooms and by 2011 the total will equal more than 90,000 rooms.
In 2007, 4.3 million delegates visited New York, generating a total economic impact of $3.13 billion. Though signs are still upbeat, the tourism and convention industry is taking advantage of the city’s international cache to help ensure future business.
“One of the things NYC & Company has done over the last two years through the assistance of Mayor Bloomberg is expanded globally,” says Chris Heywood, vice president of travel and tourism public relations for NYC & Company. “We opened 11 new offices for a total of 18 serving 75 countries. We’re looking for opportunities to expand our international presence, especially for mice business.”
Last year NYC & Company combined the divisions of tourism development and convention development under one umbrella primarily to drive leisure business to the city as well as find new ways to lure mice business to the city.
Over the last year, the organization has also established regional sales offices in California and Chicago and expanded its Washington, D.C., office.
“We want to capitalize on business and make sure we are in front of customers,” Heywood says. “We are proactively pitching.”
Manhattan
While some have been riding the rocky road known as Wall Street, Manhattan continues to prosper at a steady pace, even growing in regard to its cultural riches.
“The thing about Manhattan is if you haven’t been to New York in six months to a year, you are missing out,” Heywood says. “The city constantly changes and evolves.”
There are a number of new museum openings, including the Museum of Arts and Design, which recently debuted on Columbus Circle. In November, the Intrepid-Sea-Air-Space Museum on the Hudson River reopened after a two-year renovation and can offer space for group events.
“It’s in a park-like atmosphere with interactive exhibits,” Heywood says. “It’s a nice addition to the cultural landscape.”
Also in November, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex debuted in SoHo, the first located outside Cleveland. Highlights in the 25,000-square-foot space include Bruce Springsteen’s 1957 Chevy.
The New Museum opened at the end of 2007 in Manhattan’s burgeoning Bowery area and focuses on contemporary art, while The Sports Museum also debuted recently in Lower Manhattan and boasts an expansive, 8,000-square-foot event space with its own entrance and a sit-down capacity of 500.
While New York’s cultural landscape is thriving, including a celebration in 2008 of the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Center, the one project significantly scaled down has been the expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Four years ago, the state legislature approved a plan to nearly double the size of the convention center to 1.3 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space. The project ended up being canceled mainly because of soaring costs.
A smaller project was agreed upon in which $700 million would be spent on replacing the roof, the air-conditioning system and the glass face of the building, and the remaining $300 million would be used for additional space.
With the new plan, the Javits Center will add 60,000 square feet of exhibit space, far less than in earlier plans. There is the possibility of putting a convention hotel with a large ballroom and meeting room space at the north end of an expanded Javits site, between 39th and 40th streets.
The work is supposed to start in June 2009 and finish in November 2012, without any interruption of trade shows.
Manhattan’s hotel scene continues to flourish, with several new meetings-ready properties coming online. The most recent newcomers include The GEM Hotel-Manhattan Chelsea, Wyndham Garden Hotel Manhattan/Chelsea West and Wyndham Garden Hotel Midtown/Convention Center. Two properties are slated to open this month: The Strand and Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group’s VU Hotel. In 2009, several properties will debut, including W New York Downtown, Hotel Indigo New York, Trump SoHo Condotel, The Standard, Hyatt Andaz, Ace Hotel New York, Gold Hotel Plaza and Wyndham Garden Hotel Manhattan/Financial District. In 2010, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts plans to open a luxury hotel in Midtown.
Additionally, the city’s famed Plaza Hotel recently reopened following a $400 million renovation, and The Mark will reopen early next year following a two-year restoration and redesign.
Brooklyn
While Manhattan oozes with sophistication, Brooklyn is considered the “cooler borough,” according to Heywood.
“It’s got authentic flavor,” he says. “There’s vintage shopping in Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, our own Central Park—Prospect Park—great eateries. It’s a great place.”
For Manhattan veterans, groups can find unique alternatives over the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as a variety of cultures.
“With a diverse population that speaks more than 136 different languages, Brooklyn is what I like to call ‘proud home to everyone from everywhere,’” says Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Trendy venues include The Abigail Kirsch at Stage 6, run by event management company Abigail Kirsch, which offers outdoor balconies with views of Manhattan on the East River.
For urban flavor, Galapagos Art Space, for the past decade located in Williamsburg, moved to Water Street in dumbo (an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), mainly because of the skyrocketing rents in uber-hip Williamsburg. Also at dumbo, St. Ann’s Warehouse can host a meeting or event.
Brooklyn classic the Brooklyn Museum offers space in its galleries as well as a 400-seat theater. Brooklyn Academy of Music can house up to 300 people in its cafe. The Brooklyn Children’s Museum in Crown Heights reopened in September following a major renovation and expansion, doubling its former size.
The Christian Cultural Center, built to be used as a convention center as well as a cultural center, features a 3,000-seat theater auditorium and a dozen breakout rooms for up to 100 people. More daring groups can have dessert with the sharks at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, which is undergoing a makeover.
This year will see the opening of downtown Brooklyn’s first aloft hotel as well as a newly built Sheraton Hotel. Additionally, InterContinental Hotels Group will introduce its Indigo brand to Brooklyn, and Cambria Suites Brooklyn Bridge will open in 2009 as the brand’s first location in New York City.
Meanwhile, the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge now offers 637 rooms, 25 meeting rooms and 30,000 square feet of total meeting space, courtesy of a skybridge-connected second tower.
Two other hotels also recently opened in Brooklyn: the Nu Hotel and Hotel Le Jolie, a sister property to Hotel Le Bleu.
Queens
For most visitors, the first borough they step foot in is Queens, home to both JFK International Airport and La Guardia Airport. In Queens, ethnic diversity includes the Indian community in Jackson Heights, a Southeast Asian contingent in Flushing and a Greek enclave in Astoria, and there is always a wide range of cuisine to match.
Queens also boasts over 7,000 acres of parks and is rich on the cultural front. Groups can explore the New York Hall of Science, Queens Botanical Garden, Queens Museum of Art, Queens Theatre in the Park and Queens Wildlife Center, located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Shea Stadium, former home of the New York Mets, is in the north end of the park, while Citi Field, the future home of the Mets, is currently being constructed adjacent to Shea Stadium. It is also the site of both the 1939 New York World’s Fair and the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair.
The main hot spots for groups are Long Island City and downtown Jamaica. There are tentative plans for a Jamaica Center to be built near the AirTrain—an airport village that would connect JFK to downtown Jamaica with three or four hotels along the way, according to Ricardi Calixte, program coordinator for the Queens Economic Development Corporation.
Four properties recently debuted in Queens: the Fairfield Inn by Marriott, Ravel Hotel and Holiday Inn Manhattan View, all in Long Island City, and the Sheraton JFK, situated a half-mile from the airport.
Bronx
Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain called the Bronx home, while the borough is also credited as the birthplace of break dancing and salsa music. It is home to the Bronx Bombers, or New York Yankees, whose historic stadium closed last year in favor of an adjacent new construction. Most of the old stadium is slated to become parkland.
Open spaces range from the New York Botanical Gardens to the Bronx Zoo, both open to groups. The gardens are also home to the Victorian glasshouse, Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
“The Bronx has gotten past its bad reputation,” Heywood says. “It’s blooming not burning.”
Other green space includes Wave Hill and the “Cape Cod of New York,” City Island, a small community located at the edge of New York City just beyond Pelham Bay Park and surrounded by the waters of the Long Island Sound and Eastchester Bay.
For a cultural fix, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, founded in 1971, exhibits 20th century and contemporary art through its central museum space and 11,000 square feet of galleries. The Bronx River Art Center is located in a 16,000-square-foot, four-story warehouse building bordering the Bronx River.
Staten Island
Staten Island is also renowned for its open spaces.
“We’re known as the borough of parks,” says Patrick Hyland, vice president of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce. “The Snug Harbor Cultural Center, our own zoo, our parks—it’s the borough’s schtick.”
In light of the prohibitive cost of living in Manhattan, artists and musicians have been moving to Staten Island’s North Shore for affordable housing and work space. There is also an active film scene, which now boasts the four-day Staten Island Film Festival.
The Snug Harbor Cultural Center, an 83-acre National Historic District with 28 historic buildings, is set among gardens and a museum and performing arts complex. Other island attractions include the 25-acre Richmond Village, which focuses on Staten Island and its neighboring communities, from the colonial period to the present.
Location is key, according to Hyland.
“We’re uniquely situated a half-hour to an hour from Manhattan, and very close to Newark Liberty International Airport,” Hyland says.
Cultural attractions include the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, the recently renovated St. George Theatre, the Staten Island Museum and The Conference House. The Staten Island Ferry is an attraction in itself, offering a free ride past the Statue of Liberty. Visitors can also head to the home of the minor-league Staten Island Yankees, who play from June through August.
Popular meetings hotels include the Hilton Garden Inn New York/Staten Island, the recently opened Hampton Inn & Suites and the Staten Island Hotel. Two other smaller hotels, Holiday Inn Express and Comfort Inn, are being built on the West Shore.
For More Info
Bronx Tourism Council 718.590.3518 www.ilovethebronx.com
Brooklyn Tourism and Visitors Center 718.802.3846 www.visitbrooklyn.org
NYC & Company 212.484.1200
www.nycvisit.com
Office of the Staten Island Borough President 718.816.2000
www.statenislandusa.com
Queens Economic Development Corp. 718.263.0546
www.discoverqueens.info
