Report Released On NYC Tourism Post 9/11

NEW YORK— Newly released 2001 domestic visitor counts confirm that travel to New York City was negatively impacted by the events of September 11, yet current trends show that visitors are continuing to return to New York, according to NYC & Company, the citys tourism marketing organization. The recovery remains partial as business travel, visitor spending and lengths of stay are down, impacting the billions of dollars in tax revenues generated by the industry and the hundreds of thousands of people it employs throughout the city. According to statistics released by NYC & Company, despite the drop in domestic visitors following September 11, New York City welcomed slightly more domestic visitors in 2001 than in 2000 although spending was down by almost $1 billion. The slight increase in visitors was due to the strength of the first three-quarters of 2001 (pre-9/11) and an influx of people coming to New York to visit friends and relatives following September 11. NYC & Company cautioned however, that when 2001 international visitor figures are made available by the U.S. Department of Commerce later this fall, final visitor counts are expected to reflect an overall decline for 2001. In 2001, New York City welcomed 29.5 million domestic visitors, an increase of 80,000 or 0.3% over 2000s 29.4 million domestic visitors. This rate of increase was slightly larger than the 0.1% growth in domestic travel nationwide. Preliminary spending estimates from the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) reflect a 10% drop (-$969 million) in domestic visitor direct spending in New York City from $9.778 billion in 2000 to $8.809 billion in 2001. New York Citys statistically insignificant increase in total domestic visitors was due to a 4.7% jump in domestic travelers from January 1 to September 10 over 2000 – an increase large enough to offset New Yorks 7.5% decrease in domestic visitors following September 11. Domestic business travel in 2001 dropped 1.2% from 8.4 million in 2000 to 8.3 million (compared with a 7.2% drop nationwide) while the 0.9% growth in leisure travel from 21.0 million in 2000 to 21.2 million in 2001 (compared with a 3.0% growth nationwide) made up for this change. Although the number of domestic visitors to New York City increased slightly in 2001 over 2000, the total number of visitor days decreased 1.0% from 65.3 million in 2000 to 64.67 million in 2001. Nationally, total visitor days decreased by 2%, twice New York Citys decrease. Before 9/11, overall domestic travel to New York City was up 4.7% from 2000; total growth was more than twice the national rate of 2.2% for the same period. Pre-9/11 domestic business travel was up 8.2% (compared with a 5.2% decline nationwide) and domestic leisure travel was up 3.2% (compared with a 5.3% increase nationwide) over 2000. Signs of the weakening economy were in evidence, though, as business travelers were increasingly coming to New York just for the day without incurring the expense of a hotel. Pre-9/11 overnight business travel held even at 0.0% change (compared with a national decline of 1.8%) while day business visitors were up by 16.6% (compared with a 7.8% decline nationwide) over 2000. Following 9/11, overall domestic travel to New York City fell by 7.5% from 2000, compared with the nations 5.2% decline in post-9/11 domestic travel. The citys decrease was fueled by a 21.9% drop in business travel (compared with a 12.0% decline nationwide) and a 2.8% decrease in leisure travel (compared with a 2.5% decrease nationwide) over 2000. The relatively small drop in New York Citys post-9/11 domestic leisure visitors was due in part to the significant increase in visitors to New York to see friends/relatives following September 11. These visitors increased by 11.6% over the same period in 2000, by 320,000 to 3.05 million. In contrast, friend/relative visits declined nationwide by 4.8% during the same period. The nearly $1 billion drop in visitor spending i