City Guide congratulates Mayor-Elect Eric Adams, who will be inaugurated as the 110th Mayor of New York City. We are hoping an influx of strong leadership will guide midtown and the broader city through our immediate challenges. On the tourism front there are some encouraging signs. National bookings are on the rise ahead of the November 8th border re-openings. Covid concerns are ebbing. Allianz Partners recently analyzed more than 2 million roundtrip itineraries and found Americans' top choice for Thanksgiving weekend is NYC. City Guide will be ready for the arrivals. This week we are putting together new print editions of the magazine, which will appear all around the city starting a week ahead of Thanksgiving. Hotels looking for copies can reach out to our Director of Operations Management, Ray Winn. Other comeback notes include:
- Thompson Central Park New York opened this week in the former Parker New York (Burger Joint is returning with it)
- The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes returns November 5th with more Rockettes numbers than ever before
- Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) presents 2021 City Skate Pop Up Concerts at The Rink at Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park starting November 9th
- The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, a Norway Spruce, will return on November 13th; lighting will take place December 1st
- Wollman Rink NYC’s Grand Reopening Ceremony set for November 14th
- Da Vinci on Bleecker: The Last Supper Experience opens November 15th
- The Irish Arts Center unveils a new home, with programming starting December 4th
The Broadway League has once again begun sharing grosses, and although individual shows aren't being reported, the total numbers are promising, with 86% capacity for the season to date. These numbers are higher than might be expected, and Griffin Miller, City Guide's Theatre Editor, notes that almost every performance she's been to has been packed, adding "and I only see shows on the weeknights." We expect that starting next week, there will be many more foreign accents on line for the performances.
Times Square Alliance brings back the holiday "Show Globes" inspired by hit Broadway shows today. Image: Walter Wlodarczyk for Times Square Alliance.
LINKS OF INTEREST
NYC
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will return to its pre-pandemic ways
- A pandemic era pivot for the Park Lane Hotel
- A $350-million wellness theme park with waterslides and thermal baths coming to NYC
- Holidays and international visitors could speed NYC tourism’s recovery
- Midtown eateries reawakening and innovating as office workers return
- New leases indicative of NYC bar and restaurant comeback
- Hard Rock mulls NYC area casino—Steve Cohen would like one next to Citi Field
- Global Tourism Sports & Entertainment presents GTSE’s Night of Hope virtual fundraising gala, November 11th
BEYOND NYC
- DHS lifts restrictions on land and ferry entry into U.S.
- High-end hotels reporting surge in celebration bookings
- Avis Budget reports record earnings
- Leisure and hospitality jobs continued growth in October
- Trivago sees return to normal for travel, including cities, in mid-2022
- Retail sales primed for record season—are supply chain worries overblown?
- Hilton gets an unexpected boost from business travel—and is confident enough in 2022 to hold back on group bookings
- With 2022 sailings booked at higher prices than 2019, Royal Caribbean Group expects to be profitable for 2022
- What's new for travelers as the post-pandemic era begins?
- Rethinking the future of luxury travel
EVERYTHING TO DO FACEBOOK GROUP POST OF THE WEEK
City Guide's Facebook Group Everything to Do NYC is 57,000 members strong, bringing together a mix of tourists making plans and locals giving advice. It's a great barometer of what visitors are thinking. 160 people weighed in on this one:
Best Italian restaurant in NYC atmosphere, history etc
Patsy's is there of course, but also some lesser known suggestions including Raffaele, Osteria 106, Rossini's, Monte's Trattoria, Villa Mosconi, John's, Da Umberto, Patrizia's, Zero Otte Nove, Giardino D'oro, Locanda Verde, Carmine's, and Dominick's Restaurant. The group is a great way to reach customers in real time as they're making decisions about where to invest their time and money in NYC. If you're not a member yet, join us!
