Crain’s New York Business: International tourists land and industry watches for comeback indicators
By CARA EISENPRESS
November 8, 2021 3:40 PM
By noon in New York City, 37 flights had already touched down at John F. Kennedy and Newark nternational airports from Toronto, with an additional 20 flights arriving from London and eight from Paris.
The airport arrivals mark the end of Covid-era restrictions on international travel, which kept a cap on the city’s tourism sector. The sector is an important driver for New York City, having had an $80 billion impact on the economy in 2019 and supporting 376,800 jobs, according to figures from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
“We hear from hotels that reservations are strong with international travelers, and Broadway sales are also strong,” said Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance. “We are looking forward to welcoming the world back to Times Square.”
True indicators about how well the return of international tourism is going will become visible gradually, as Broadway releases its weekly sales figures, airports track traffic and the Times Square Alliance puts out its report about pedestrians in the area. All tourists have to show their Covid-19 vaccine records and proof of a negative test; airlines are in charge of verifying the vax proof and have to pay a $35,000 fee for violations.
Early observations in New York City point to a strong showing on day one.
The international money exchange, which had been closed since March 2020, reopened at 2 Times Square today, Harris said.
Airbnb said New York was among the top five destinations for international travelers booking through its platform beginning this week.
“What we’re seeing is growing strength in the business as borders are starting to open up, people are more vaccinated, more willing to kind of travel,” said David Stephenson, Airbnb’s chief financial officer.
Web traffic from international users on Statue City Cruises, which sells tickets for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, was up 64% in advance of the week, said Rafael Abreu, vice president of sales. He said that visitors from the United Kingdom were making up most of the surge, but additional activity was coming from France, Canada, Germany and Italy. The cruise company has had a 16% increase in advance international orders since mid-October, Abreu said, and an increase in the average booking window from six to 21 days, meaning travelers from afar were planning.
“All positive signs that we expect visitation to surge during the holiday periods of the final months of 2021,” Abreu said.
On Fifth Avenue, merchants hope to see foot traffic match that of 2019 by the end of the year. It had returned by about 75% as of October, said Jerome Barth, president of Fifth Avenue Association, which includes the high-end retailers that international tourists often seek out.
“We’ve had a strong pickup from national visitors,” he said. “But you can’t sustain it without the opening to the international market. Now, we’re coinciding with the busiest time of year—the holidays.”
He said he would look for a variety of languages spoken on the street as evidence that the international tourists are really here.
“Those moments happened all the time before; now they are few and far between,” he said.
Times Square Alliance workers will be on hand for translation help, Harris said.
Hotels, however, as a sector are bringing up the rear.
“Several are reporting increased bookings, but no one expects a return to anything approaching 2019, given there’s still very little if any business travel,” said Vijay Dandapani, president of the Hotel Association of New York City.
Expedia, a bookings site, was trading at an all-time high at midday.
Despite the frothiness of the hopes, it will take time for city tourism to regain its old stance.
While it waits, there will be state funds, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday. She plans to put $450 million into the industry’s comeback statewide, including $25 million on an ad campaign—that’s on top of $30 million from New York City. The governor’s plan will invest $100 million in one-time payments to 36,000 tourism-industry workers, another $100 million in $5,000 incentives to tourism companies to bring back workers, and $25 million for convention centers.
“I’m an optimist. They will come back. We need them to hold on a little longer,” Hochul said. “We don’t want the reverse crisis—the hotels are open, but there are no workers trained to step in.”