Gothamist: Foreign Tourists Are NYC's Economic Safety Net

west side Michael

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:53:03 -0500

Buy those extra Mac's and Ipod's. Sell em home and it pays for your vacation here?. I remember French friends doing that with Answering machines in the 1970's as they were so expensive and heavily taxed in Europe then.

Phil McCracken 222

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:00:03 -0500

They come from all over the world to stand motionless in front of me at the top of the subway stairs! How I love them !

edEx

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:49:41 -0500

as we were theirs in the late 90s. nothing new.

matty

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:11:03 -0500

I sent this post to the times for clarification. It seems like that completely misquoted the press release.

Murray Hillster

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:54:26 -0500

Amazing that all of those one million new tourists were in my way at one point or another over the past few months.

matty

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:52:59 -0500

From NY TIMES "While the number of international tourists coming to the United States last year was still two million below the number who visited in 2000 — the year before the Sept. 11 attacks — New York has bucked that trend. It was the only one of the 10 American cities most popular with foreign visitors that drew more of them in 2006 than in 2000, according to the federal Department of Commerce." From US COMMERCE DEPARTMENT http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/tinews/archive/tinews2008/20080311.html "The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that a record 56.7 million international visitors traveled to the United States in 2007, an increase of 11 percent over 2006. This level also surpassed the 2000 record year of 51.2 million visitors. Ten of the top 25 arrival markets broke records set in previous years." So where did the Times get it's stats? The publication by the Tourism Bureau - where they had to have gotten their information from - directly conflicts with the Times' article. Was this just a marketing piece made by NYC & Co!?!?

matty

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:38:24 -0500

Well alright!

Dave Hogarty

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:23:12 -0500

From the Times: Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago each recorded a drop of more than 950,000 annual visitors from outside of North America during that period, the Commerce Department’s figures show. The Travel Industry Association in Washington estimates that the decline in tourism from overseas since 9/11 has cost the United States nearly $100 billion in lost spending and nearly 200,000 jobs.

Dave Hogarty

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:18:42 -0500

Matty, those figures are mentioned in the Times piece.

matty

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:12:22 -0500

Where's the stats on foreign visitors dropping in chicago and los angeles? cite your sources damnit.

Reality Czech

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:07:06 -0500

Yeah! I'm living in a city only the rich & entitled and tourists can afford! YEAH!

Dave Hogarty

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:53:33 -0500

I'm going to guess that lady said "Look a-holes, I live in this city. Don't crowd me and thanks for visiting."

moocowtoo

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:50:36 -0500

why does that lady get to stand in front of the barricade, that is totally unfair to the other people with cameras behind her!

BackStJoe

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:44:25 -0500

So instead of making the metrocard more expensive for tourists they hit us hard working NYer's who have to buy the monthly pass. Nice.

sinisterteashop

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:35:07 -0500

According to the NY Times, restaurateur Danny Meyer added the Euro equivalent prices to his wine list to highlight the comparative bargains European tourists were getting while imbibing. Meyer said he's been selling more and pricier wines at The Modern, his restaurant in the MoMA. And thank goodness the city is helping Danny Meyer carve out a new restaurant in Union Square. Maybe we can watch the Euros being spent through a chain link fence?