“We’re thrilled to be here, and we’re glad Canada’s back.”
Fabio Monteiro and representatives from 17 other New York City attractions flew into Toronto to meet with the travel trade on 15APR. They put on a lavish afternoon spread, followed by a night at the Rogers Centre to see the New York Yankees play (and lose) to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Monteiro, who represents the SUMMIT at One Vanderbilt observatory/experience in midtown Manhattan, might have said it best when he told the crowd how thrilled he was to meet with old Canadian friends and make new contacts.
“It’s great to be here,” said Reginald Charlot, SVP of Tourism Market Development, New York City Tourism + Conventions. “We want to educate the travel trade about about what’s new and great in the city.
“This might be our largest-ever delegation in Canada, and that says a lot about how important this market is for us.”
In a one-on-one chat with Open Jaw, Charlot said some 995,000 Canadians last year visited the City That Never Sleeps. That’s second only to the UK, which had just over a million visitors.
Charlot said Canada is expected to eclipse the 1 million visit mark this year.
“Canada is just down the street from us,” Charlot said with a grin. “It’s a great drive market and a great fly market.”
Indeed. Air Canada alone has 38 flights to NYC-area airports every day, including 21 from YYZ, 13 from YUL, as well as flights from YYC, YHZ, YVR and YOW.
Charlot said the trade is immensely important to New York City tourism.
New York City Tourism + Conventions last year launched a refreshed version of its Travel Trade Academy for advisors. They also brought product managers into the city to see things for themselves, and they conduct regular fams and webinars to give agents better information on the city.
“To have this many people here, it’s a real testament to the Canadian market,” said Charmaine Singh, GM Canada, New York City Tourism + Conventions.
NYC officials will meet later this week in Montreal and Quebec City, two other key markets for The Big Apple.
Charlot said there are tons of new things to see and do in New York City, and new places to stay, including a posh Aman hotel in midtown and a stylish Tempo by Hilton in Times Square.
On the cultural front, the Perelman Performing Arts Center opened last September in lower Manhattan, adjacent to the One World Observatory. He also said there’s a fine exhibit on now at the Brooklyn Museum called Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. It runs through 7JUL, 2024.
Sports are also a big tourism business in New York City, which will host the final game of the FIFA World Cup in July 2026 and the FIFA Club World Cup next year.
New York City this year is celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city in 1624.
We asked Charlot about some of his favourite places to take friends and family who come to the city.
“I love to take people to Chelsea and to see the High Line Park, as I live in the area. The High Line park is amazing. I like to show people the galleries on the west side and Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, as well as Brooklyn Bridge Park and the galleries and food places in Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).”
He also singled out Tin Building, a food market on the banks of the East River in lower Manhattan that’s run by celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Yours truly visited in January and thought it was tremendous.
Among those on hand for the Toronto event were representatives from CityPASS, The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Delta Hotels NY Times Square, Broadway Inbound, Chicago the Musical, The New York Yankees, Gray Line Sightseeing, Big City Tourism, Hudson Yards, Yotel, The Edge Observation Deck, The Brooklyn Museum (the second largest in NYC), The Crowne Plaza Times Square hotel, and Summit at One Vanderbilt.
Many tourism board videos can seem similar, but the New York City one played for the trade and media was terrific. Lively and passionate New Yorkers talked about what makes their city great and offered fun observations.
One woman praised the city’s love for Italian food, saying, “Plain pizza is the official fruit of New York.” Another called the city “the pinnacle of welcome.”
After one local vocally touted the pleasures of a visit to the borough of Queens, famous for its lively food scene, a woman chimed in with a plaintive cry of, “Oh my goodness, no, it’s Manhattan!”
A few of Jim’s Tips:
Wave Hill Gardens is a fabulous nature spot on the banks of the Hudson River in the Bronx. I also love Bronx’s Little Italy, which is centred around Arthur Avenue. Another great Bronx spot is City Island, which feels like a New England fishing village. In Brooklyn, check out the goofy but thoroughly enjoyable City Reliquary, which has memorabilia galore from the 1964 World’s Fair and the Brooklyn Dodgers, as well as a back garden filled with Statue of Liberty models of all sizes. Fun and funky.
