New York City’s travel-marketing organization unveiled a
roadmap for recovery that includes a pitch to locals to help revitalize the
city’s tourism economy.
NYC & Company’s new Coalition for NYC Hospitality &
Tourism Recovery also launched a Stay Well NYC Pledge and a new marketing
campaign, “All In NYC.”
The recovery roadmap outlines three stages of recovery from
the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently in the second phase,
the campaign aims to “inspire New Yorkers and those within a short drive to
connect safely with their city through new initiative.”
As conditions allow, the campaign will expand its target to
regional, domestic and, ultimately, international travelers.
The initial stages strive to “help New Yorkers reconnect
with the city they love, remind people that New York City remains the greatest
city in the world and is now one of the safest cities from a public health
perspective, and help the city’s more than 403,000 tourism and hospitality
employees return to work,” NYC & Company said in a statement.
“The challenge of rebuilding tourism cannot be
underestimated,” said NYC & Company CEO Fred Dixon. “This roadmap and
revitalization campaign are a significant first step to rally New Yorkers to
safely explore their city once again and energize the business community as NYC
comes back to life. Tourism recovery will be gradual but certain.”
The tagline “All In NYC” is meant to convey how New Yorkers
feel about their city and describes its greatest strengths, NYC & Company
says. It was designed pro-bono by Aruliden, a New York-based design agency.
The campaign will include support for restaurants, with
content featuring New York City chefs; promoting staycations in NYC; leveraging
well-known New Yorkers to become influencers for their city; engaging external
audiences; and expanding the campaigns reach geographically.
The coalition also said that given the disproportionate
impact of Covid-19 on the city’s Black and brown populations, that it will
focus on opportunities for those communities in its rebound. This need was
compounded by the protests after the death of George Floyd, the group said. “We
see these not as momentary conversations, but as future-defining principles for
our industry and campaign.”
The roadmap program features initiatives such as a long-term
commitment to increasingly feature under-represented voices who celebrate the
city’s diverse culture and the creation of the NYC & Company Equity &
Inclusion Working Group.
In 2019, New York City’s travel and tourism industry marked
its 10th consecutive year of record growth with 66.6 million visitors and $72
billion in economic activity.
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New York City launched a list of protocols that businesses
and visitors to the city should adopt “to restore confidence and ensure that
locals and visitors know that the hospitality, tourism, arts, culture and
entertainment sectors are aligned on best-in-class cleaning standards.”
The Stay Well NYC Pledge protocols include enhanced cleaning
and sanitizing, mask-wearing, using contactless payment when possible and
social distancing.
NYC & Company said that accepting the pledge will enable
consumers to know that the business community is addressing health and safety
as a top priority. By asking consumers to also make the pledge, “the dual
commitment” shows that both sides have a role to play in the battle against
Covid-19.
NYCgo.com has information about the pledge and a
downloadable toolkit.