City Tourism Organization NYC & Company Accompanies NYC Travel Partners to Australia to Promote America’s Number One City Destination during Visit USA Expos February 13-20, 2012

NYC & Company, the City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization, will travel across Australia this week to attend the 2012 Visit USA Expos. The purpose of the business trip will be to promote New York City’s five boroughs to the Australian market, and to highlight NYC & Company member companies while expanding NYC’s reach to the international travel trade and media.  Seven co-exhibitors will accompany NYC & Company’s Makiko Matsuda Healy, Vice President of Tourism Development, on the six-day event resulting in a NYC delegation with a total of ten representatives.  Australia is the fifth largest source of overseas travel to New York City, welcoming an estimated 533,000 visitors in 2011.

“Australia remains a key market for NYC tourism—it is the fifth largest source of overseas travel to the US, and the number one US destination for Australian travel,” said Makiko Healy, vice president, tourism development, NYC & Company. “We look forward to building increased business from every corner of Australia and welcoming more visitors from this key market to New York City in the year ahead.”

Recognized as the global event of the travel industry, the Visit USA Travel Trade Event is a six-day business to business and media event presenting a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to Australian and international travel professionals and key media. The Australian travel trade meet, network and conducts business from four key Australian cities: Sydney (Monday 13 February), Adelaide (Tuesday 14 February), Melbourne (Wednesday 15 February), Sydney (Thursday 16 and Friday 17 February) and Brisbane (Monday 19 February).

“It’s exciting to have NYC & Company visit Australia to meet with the travel trade industry and media. More and more Australians are travelling to New York City each year, therefore it’s important to build these relationships to increase visitor growth from Australia year on year,” said Alison Roberts-Brown, Regional Director in Australia for NYC & Company.

NYC & Company member businesses joining the delegation include:  Empire State Building Observatory, Hotel Beacon, Marmara Manhattan, Marriott & Renaissance Hotels of New York City, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, American Best Getaways, and Wellington Hotel.

An estimated 533,000 Australian travellers visited New York City in 2011, representing a 11.3 percent increase over the 2010 visitor figure of 479,000.Performance has continued to remain strong with dollar parity for most of 2011.  Based on 2010 data, approximately 90 percent of Australian travel to NYC is for leisure purposes while 10 percent is for business.  Average spending is $298 per person or $2,679 per visit.   Leading activities for leisure visitors include shopping (93 percent) and dining (92 percent). 

For more information on what to see, do and experience in New York City, visit nycgo.com. When in NYC, stop by the Official NYC Information Center at 810 Seventh Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan.

In the Australia market, you can follow NYC & Company on Twitter @nycgo_au or become a fan on the Australia Facebook page at facebook.com/nycgo.au.  Members of the travel trade can also complete NYC & Company’s NYC Travel Training Academy by visiting nycgo.com/training.