Tourism News Articles
NYC Tourism: Festivals, Updates, Openings
There haven't been many ticker tape parades through downtown in recent years, making today's celebration all the more inspiring. At 11am, the city will celebrate our "Hometown Heroes" with a big thank you to healthcare, transit, and all the other frontline workers who kept the city going through the pandemic. Although we are not clear of COVID yet, the success of the July 4th weekend bodes well for recovery.
Reopening New York: Latest News
New York City now boasts one of the world's lowest COVID positive rates, raising hopes—or maybe even expectations—that the July 4th holiday weekend will reflect a full bounce back. Certainly cultural organizations are betting on New York, with a slew of live events and reopens coming on line.
From Times Square to Coney Island, All Kinds of NYC Comebacks
The city is coming back quickly, to the point where things like hover drones above Times Square seem once again to be just another part of the city's fabric. Nationally, the TSA set another passenger screening record last weekend. AAA forecasts travel volumes around July 4th will approach the record highs set in 2019. As the nation and city bounce back, we see more and more openings and returns.
COVID Restrictions Lifted in NYC: Latest Tourism Update
Day 473 and it ends. COVID restrictions have been lifted in New York. Yesterday the governor's office made the announcement as the state hit the 70% adult vaccination threshold. This means no more social distancing or capacity limits—at least as far as the state is concerned—for sports, malls, gyms, movie theaters, or camps. Health screening is done. So is contact tracing. Despite the many losses of these past 473 days, we expect the city to move to a more celebratory stance, and the latest slate of launches supports that.
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New York to Lift COVID Restrictions: NYC Tourism Update
This week's breaking news is the Governor's announcement that when New York reaches 70% adult vaccination most COVID restrictions will be lifted. In as little as two weeks we could be done with capacity restrictions, social distancing, cleaning requirements, health screenings, and contact tracing. The city is changing so quickly already but this will accelerate it.
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Hotel Tax Holiday and Other Tourism News for NYC
Mayor de Blasio announced a three-month tax holiday for NYC hotel stays starting June 1st. All the more reason to expect a resurgent tourism sector in the weeks ahead.
New York Drops Mask Mandate and Other Tourism Updates
For the third week in a row NYC tourism has a game changer. As of today, the vaccinated can go maskless (with exceptions, of course, like hospitals and public transportation). Normalcy is returning, quickly, and City Guide is seeing a rise in interest in NYC travel. The subways are back to 24/7. Take a look for Lion King or Hamilton tickets and you'll find availability is already down to scattered singles.
Broadway Is Coming Back and More NYC Tourism News
It's getting hard to keep up. With the city's COVID infection rate below 2% and falling fast, reopening announcements are piling up, and Broadway is leading the pack. Hamilton. Lion King. Wicked. All back September 14th. Tickets on sale today. Capacity will be 100%. And further premieres and returns are close behind, including Broadway's longest-runner The Phantom of the Opera. Dr. Fauci has announced that, as vaccinations increase, relaxation of indoor mask requirements will follow. Broadway's return will change the city's dynamic for tourism dramatically. The savvy move of offering vaccinations to visitors will further help the travel market.
NYC Tourism News and New Family Travel Data
An informal exploration through Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan this past weekend revealed a shifting attitude towards masks in the city. After many months of citywide discipline, a lot more faces are suddenly visible. (The CDC is onboard with it—the latest guidance is that fully vaccinated people don't need to be masked outdoors under the right conditions.) The plummeting of the COVID rate in the city further reflects the changing times. Accordingly, capacities are expanding, and there's more opening news...
Culture Coming Soon and More NYC Reopening News
The situation for city tourism is changing in a New York minute. The latest guidance from the Governor gives us extended bar and restaurant curfews, zoo and museum capacity expanded to 50%, and movie theaters up to 33%. Sports and large event capacity moves to 25% as of May 19th. The city's COVID rate is the lowest its been in almost five months. In addition, there are plenty of green shoots on the reopening front, especially for culture.
NYC Tourism Updates April 2021
You probably never thought you'd be uplifted by reports of increased rat activity in the city, but such are the times we're living in. The uptick in rodent complaints reflects an increasingly bouncing back city. In more pleasant indicators, subway ridership just had its first 2 million-plus rider day in eons; nationally Uber saw rides spike almost 10% in March. There's much more on the opening front, too.
NYC Reopenings and More Tourism News
We are again overflowing with reopening news, as vaccine eligibility further expands and the CDC greenlights travel for those who've got their shots. Live theatre, music, and comedy have returned at least in part—even Jerry Seinfeld is back.
NYC Update: Openings and More
Hibernations are ending in NYC. We're seeing green shoots of growth both figurative and literal, including openings and reopenings of Frick Madison, Balthazar, Intrepid, Circle Line, Film Forum, and the Loeb Boathouse.
NYC Tourism Comeback Continues
The spate of recent changes reaffirms the city's comeback is on. In the past few days we've seen added restaurant capacity, extended closing times, and the return of movies, amusement parks, weddings, and catered events. We've also seen COVID positive rates plummet and hospitalizations remain low. A major bump in vaccines is on its way.
Finally Some Positive News for NYC Tourism
The return of indoor dining, middle schools, and pop-up performing arts all point to a rapidly restoring New York City. Broader traveler sentiments reflect that as well. A recent survey by market research firm Destination Analytics shows cities back on top of leisure travel plans.
New Administration, New Outlooks for New York City Tourism
The city's prospects continue to change rapidly with Washington finally focusing on COVID recovery and Governor Cuomo releasing a slew of ideas for reimagining Manhattan. Midtown would get an infrastructure overhaul to the tune of $306 million. Er, billion. A new Port Authority, an additional train station, and a Javits Center expansion are only the beginning. (And the Biden administration has already signaled it's willing to help out municipalities as well as invest in transit.)
New York City Tourism News to Kick Off 2021
As much as it may feel like 2021 is picking up right where 2020 left off, we are already in a different world less than two weeks into the year. Disturbing as the violence last week was—and the threat of more to come—we have seen the resilience of our institutions. Vaccines are rolling out across New York City, financial markets are optimistic, and interest in travel inspiration is at a pandemic-era high. Already we are seeing headlines like "The COVID Vaccine Travel Booking Spree Is On."
NYC Tourism Updates December 2020
The U.S. Travel Association is predicting a major turnaround beginning with summer leisure travel. Economists are comparing the broader market conditions today to the early '80s, when a lowering of interest rates produced immediate growth from pent-up demand. Two major extended-stay companies report the pendulum swinging back to cities after a long spate of beach and nature vacations. We are already looking forward to the excitement of a major New York City comeback in 2021.
NYC Tourism Latest
The Thanksgiving weekend saw the most U.S. travel since the pandemic began. It's an indicator that people are anxious to get out, although the substantial dropoff from 2019 also points toward plenty of COVID caution. The next couple of weeks will tell us how successful prevention efforts were, and whether we can minimize the damage of the virus between here and the arrival of vaccines. On the latter front, the news continues to be excellent, with Moderna reporting its vaccine 100% effective in preventing severe infections.
NYC Tourism Updates for December 2020
The vaccine news of the last few days is nothing short of spectacular. Pfizer and Moderna have both developed 95%-effective candidates, and Moderna's has less of a deep freeze requirement, making the logistics side more promising. Accordingly, travel stocks have been shooting up. Less publicized is a recent NYU study showing that hospitalized patients with COVID had a 26% chance of dying in March; that's been cut all the way down to 8% now. The FDA just approved an at-home COVID test. All of it bodes well for continued recovery.
NYC Tourism News in the Election Aftermath
We are, at least, on the other side of the election. However things play out, at last being able to establish some parameters will allow our city and our industry to plan for recovery. For years we've heard an artificial emphasis on sectors like coal mining. There are 50,000 coal miners in the U.S. Tourism accounts for six times as many jobs—in New York City alone! Tourism and New York can be an accelerant for national recovery. In the links below we have several innovations and data points to that end.
NYC Tourism Updates This Week
More data points toward recovery. The city's unemployment rate dropped in September, now back into single digits. Schools have reopened but the positivity rate among students is minuscule—0.2%. In fact, New York state has the third lowest positivity rate in the nation (and that's with ample testing). Nationally, the Domestic Travel Safety Barometer score rose above 50% for the first time since the pandemic began. The TSA screened over a million air travelers for the first time since March. (Those passengers are primarily leisure travelers, too.) Despite the small spike in infection rates, indicators are looking good for a New York comeback.
NYC Tourism Updates This Week
Although the major tourism headlines this week were about postponements—both the Philharmonic and Broadway are pushing off to at least summer 2021—a scan of the wider scene reveals green shoots of rebirth. NYC luxury is making a comeback, suggesting the affluent may be making their way back to the city—Louis Vuitton is open again, Bergdorf Goodman is expanding its hours, and Per Se returns tomorrow. Read on for more on NYC and broader tourism trends.
The Latest in NYC Tourism
Another week brings some major stories—no in-person ball drop for New Year's, no Met Opera season—and also several opportunities for rebirth. Indoor dining is back today. New York's outdoor restaurant program will be made permanent and new rules will make cooler-weather dining easier. Continuing innovation will get us out of this—read on for more links of interest.
NYC Tourism News This Week
For the second consecutive month, the city's unemployment rate has dropped, this time by a healthy 25%—although overall unemployment remains high, about double national averages. With tourism and hospitality curtailed, it's not surprising, although the city's low rate of COIVD transmission means more and more is reopening. Read on for the latest New York City and global tourism news.