Tourists biting again at Big Apple

Disasters elsewhere are bringing visitors flocking to New York this year, boosting an industry still recovering from 9/11

One continent's disaster can be another's bonanza.So it goes in the fickle world of travel, where calamities in one corner of the globe can send folks scurrying elsewhere. That's one way to explain why New York City could cash in on a tourism boom this summer.

Hotel executive Valerie Dillon said foreign travel agents have told her that more Europeans will pack their bags for the United States because Asian beaches and cities, often popular haunts, are less desirable since the tsunami hit in December. Goodbye Phuket, hello Coney Island.

"New York seems very attractive," said Dillon, director of travel industry sales at the Crowne Plaza Times Square, where some nights in July and August are already sold out.

Whatever the reason - whether it be washed out Asian villages, the low dollar or more direct flights to New York from overseas locales - officials in myriad businesses serving the $24-billion tourism industry expect a bountiful summer.

Limo services, lodges, walking tours and Broadway shows anticipate throngs of map-toting tourists to clog sidewalks and stimulate the economy.



Foreign interest

Last year, an estimated 39.6 million visitors arrived in New York, 13 percent from overseas. While small in number, international travelers account for almost half the tourism dollars spent.

This year NYC & Co., the city's convention and marketing bureau, projects the number of sightseers at more than 40 million. "It looks very bright," said NYC & Co. president Cristyne Nicholas, who spotted several Romanians last week in a visitor center - a telling sign, she said, since tourists from that country are rare.

When overseas travelers venture to the United States, New York is the most popular destination, and for Europeans often the first stop. Foreigners generally stay several nights, then take off for sites out west or attractions in Florida, travel agents said. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates the number of international travelers to the U.S. this summer will climb 6 percent.

Chia-Lin Chang, vice president of Global Independent Travel Services, a city-based wholesaler that books rooms and tours in 25 U.S. cities, said "it is getting hard to get rooms" in Manhattan. And rates are climbing along with demand.

There was no room at the inn for several nights last week at the 770-chamber Crowne Plaza in Times Square, and it is fully booked for 17 days in July and August, Dillon said. Vacationers are coming in large numbers from the United Kingdom and Switzerland, but the hotel has strong reservations in coming months from business travelers, too.



Promising signs

Some say the influx has begun. April was the best month for Showtix, even better than during the opening month for "The Producers," said Patricia Daily, managing director of the group sales operation which buys seats for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. She said since Jan. 1, gross ticket sales are 20 percent higher than a year ago. "When you have decent things to sell, it makes it easier," she noted.

Showtix buys tickets in bulk after receiving orders. Daily said that with the cheap American currency, more Americans are touring their own country rather than venturing abroad, leading to increased domestic visitation in New York.

Tom Herrschaft, president of Golden Touch Transportation of New York, said he is anticipating the busiest summer in four years. The service shuttles travelers from airports to hotels and gives tours. He said volume slowed after the 2001 terrorist attacks but started gaining momentum in March.

Moreover, travelers report they like what they see. Many have noted that New York seems cleaner and safer, Herrschaft said. "The response from people is fantastic."

Tourism officials believe that International Pow Wow, a tourism convention held here earlier this month that drew thousands of overseas travel agents and journalists, will generate an additional $300 million in travel to New York State in the next three years - 10 percent of the $3 billion expected to flow throughout the country.

Noel DeFosse, general manager of a travel agency in Brussels who attended Pow Wow to learn about new U.S. products, said he typically sends 1,200 people from Belgium to the United States annually, and at least half of them stop in New York.

This year his bookings are 20 percent higher. Many clients come to the United States for at least 15 days, and some for three weeks. "New York is kind of a dream for a lot of people," he said, adding that 95 percent of them like it, 5 percent don't. "It's a crazy city," he noted.

He said the airfare is pricey for Europeans but once in the States the cost of a vacation is reasonable. And he said customers report getting good service. Hotels are clean, most don't overbook and workers take their jobs seriously.

Not everything is rosy. Harlem, Your Way! Tours Unlimited, which prepares customized tours, had a Japanese group cancel a planned trip to New York next month. Still on the books is a day-tripping group from New Jersey, which will attend a gospel concert but spend less overall than the foreigners. March and April were strong, but the current volume of tours is not back to levels reached before 9/11, founder and president Larcelia Kebe said.

Nicholas said that by the end of 2006 the number of international tourists should return to the record levels reached before the terrorist attacks, which scared away millions of foreign visitors.

Tourism could get an immediate boost if New York were to win the nod for the 2012 Olympics, which will be decided on July 6. "All of the Olympics enthusiasts will come to visit the city," Nicholas predicted.

Source: ELIZABETH SANGER - Newsday.com