New York’s return-to-office rate, hurt by the hybrid work trend, may be struggling to see noticeable signs of a rebound, but it’s a different story when it comes to the city’s ability to attract tourists.
After the pandemic made ghost towns of top tourist destinations such as Times Square, New York this year is on track to attract 61.8 million visitors, or 93% of the city’s record 2019 visitation levels, according to New York City Tourism + Conventions, the city’s official tourism marketing arm, in a study published Monday.
It forecast New York’s visitor count to rebound to 64.5 million visitors in 2024. That would be just about 3% shy of the 2019 record level of 66.6 million visitors.
Tourists are coming from both within the United States and overseas with the foreign inbound travel rate almost double the rate of the domestic level. Travelers from the United States are expected to rise 7.9% to 51.1 million this year while the international traveler count will see a nearly 15% increase to 10.8 million visitors, according to New York City Tourism + Conventions.
International visitors, while just about 17% of the expected total this year, represent about half of all tourist spending in the city.
The United Kingdom, Canada, France, Brazil and Germany make up the top five sources of foreign travelers this year as visitors from Asia are returning at a slower pace due to distance, economic and other concerns, according to the study. Still, China, New York’s second-largest overseas market in 2019, is beginning to return amid increased flight capacity, the tourism group said.
Business travel, traditionally about 20% of all visitors to New York annually and the hardest-hit sector during the pandemic, is still recovering at a slower pace, according to the tourism group. This year, business travel is expected to increase by nearly 3 million visitors to 11.8 million, or about 19% of the total.
The city’s tourism industry is a key part of New York’s economy, generating $74 billion in economic impact with more than $48 billion coming from direct spending that’s not adjusted for inflation, according to the study, adding that the city’s over 380,000 leisure and hospitality jobs represent some 9% of its workforce. Visitor spending is expected to generate more than $6 billion in tax revenue this year, the study found.