The Secret to New York City's New Tourism Success

Recent marketing efforts and partnerships propelled the city ahead of rivals.

ByABC News
April 20, 2010, 10:52 PM

May 12, 2010&#151; <br/> NEW YORK -- I knew it. Maybe it was the lines of people trying to hail a cab in the bus lane, or the long lines in certain fast food restaurants in midtown (locals don't eat there -- we know better).

From the buses loaded with tourists on their way to hear "authentic" gospel music in Harlem, to lines at the South Street Seaport, it's clear that New York City is a growing tourist destination. In fact, last year, despite a decline of 2 million visitors from the previous year, it surpassed Orlando and Las Vegas as the number one tourism destination in the U.S.

How did this happen? In a word: marketing.

For our purposes, the distinction between marketing and advertising is great, because NYC has spent fewer advertising dollars than Vegas or central Florida. Instead, it has simply marketed better. Vegas has been hard-hit by the negative perception that company meetings and conventions were happening there during an economic downturn, and Central Florida was hit hard by the recession and the toll it has taken on American families and visitors from Europe. Nevertheless, you might argue that NYC, on paper, is a tougher sell.

New York has ongoing concerns about terrorism, has lost twice as many jobs as in the past two recessions, and is the nation's most expensive city. But in 1999 it created NYC and Company, a hybrid chamber/tourist bureau/ad agency that bills itself as the official marketing organization for the City of New York. And it has a billionaire mayor,Michael Bloomberg, who is clearly a talented businessman. New York has consistently made the moves necessary to increase the visibility, usability and attractiveness of the city.

In 2007, the city launched its first global advertising campaign -- but unlike Vegas with a budget of about $85 million, New York's campaign, valued at about $30 million, cost less than $5 million in cash as it was accomplished largely by barter, giving countries abroad advertising space in New York.

Last month, New York announced a partnership making American Airlines the official carrier of the city. For that distinction American Airlines gave up advertising dollars to the city, pledged additional dollars to promote its routes to NYC and pledged millions to upgrade the city's airports, JFK and LaGuardia.