NYC Launches $30 Million "NYC Reawakens" Tourism Campaign

New York City wants everyone else in the country and world to know that it's (re)open for business—today, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city's marketing arm, NYC & Company, announced a new $30 million tourism campaign.

"Tourism accounts for hundreds of thousands of jobs in this city, and building a recovery for all of us means welcoming tourists back to the greatest travel destination in the world," de Blasio said in a statement. "The ‘NYC Reawakens’ initiative will show travelers everywhere that New York City is not only ready to host them – it’s creating a fairer, better, and more vibrant city than ever before."

Before the pandemic, about 400,000 jobs and $70 billion in economic activity were attributed to tourism. The NYC Reawakens initiative aims to help jolt the economy, and is ten times bigger than their usual marketing campaign; the Wall Street Journal reports that the eight-figure plan is funded by federal stimulus money.

According to NYC & Company, the city's tourism reached its high in 2019, with 66.6 million total visitors (53.1 million domestic; 13.5 million international), but dropped to 22.3 million in 2020 (19.9 million domestic; 2.4 million international). They believe 2021 visitors will total 36.4 million, and increase significantly in 2022–presumably thanks to vaccines—with 57.2 million, followed by an estimated 64.7 million in 2023 and then 69.3 million and 72.4 million in 2024 and 2025.

The campaign highlights the city's "new outdoor dining scene," cultural programs, and tourist businesses like hotels. Active hotel room inventory is expected to grow to about 110,000 average rooms this year, after falling to 88,000 last year. NYC & Company says that over 100 new hotels across the five boroughs are in development. Press materials tout the new Margaritaville Resort in Times Square, for example — an "island oasis" with 234 rooms and an outdoor pool.

They're also putting a spotlight on the return of Broadway in September (with shows like Thoughts of a Colored Man and Mrs. Doubtfire); the Tribeca Film Festival; current art shows, like Yayoi Kusama at the New York Botanical Garden and el Museo del Barrio's La Trienal, as well as future ones, like Frieze and the Met's Costume Institute show; and Restaurant Week (which is really a month, July 19th-August 15th). There will also be messages about distancing and limiting capacity in order to "stay well."

In the late 1970s, the city introduced its I Love New York campaign to boost tourism, which is where the now-beloved Milton Glaser logo came from... and maybe you remember that song: