[photopress:New_york.jpg,full,alignright]In tourism the United States of America is probably unique. It hardly has any tourist offices overseas. It has no structured way to encourage tourism. However, some cities and some states act in this area on their own.
Now NYC & Company — the marketing and tourism organization for the City of New York — has announced a new office in Shanghai and Beijing as well as other Asian centers. The new office will help promote New York and increase tourism, which will be critical to achieving New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s goal of welcoming 50 million visitors annually by 2015.
The new office is the next step in the organization’s plan to build a global network and boost international travel to New York City. The organization now has representative offices serving 19 countries. The other current Asian office openings are Tokyo and Seoul.
In China, the main draw for bringing residents to New York City remains business travel. Although the United States still does not have approved destinations status, travelers from China may come with work visas that include allowances to bring family members. These visits generally last 10 to 15 days and include stays in multiple cities.
Travel from China to New York City in particular has been on the rise in recent years, jumping sharply from 59,000 visitors in 2002 to 133,000 in 2005. Estimates call for the growth to continue, with an estimated 165,000 visitors forecast for 2007.
Source: Earth Times