New York City launches major tourism campaign

In a bid to lure more people to the self-styled ‘Big Apple’, New York City has embarked for the first time ever on a major promotional campaign. With a $15 million budget boost, the massive push is set to start in the fall of 2007 and is hoped to increase the 44 million visitors the city already receives annually.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he would like the city to reach the goal of 50 million annual tourists by 2015, as the city’s tourism office officially launched the effort on Wednesday March 7.

The campaign includes an ambitious strategy which will rely on tourism offices around the globe in places like Dublin, Buenos Aires and London, with plans to open more. “We’re going to be letting people know that New York City is not just about Manhattan,” said Fertitta, a former advertising executive and current CEO of NYC & Company. “There is a vibrancy to all five boroughs.”

However, NYC & Company’s annual budget of $45 million still pales in comparison of tourist giant Las Vegas, which spends $85 million a year promoting itself as a gambling, entertainment and conference centre. But at stake for New York City is some $24 billion in tourist dollars, which outpaces such cities as Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.