Amid a nationwide slump in inbound tourism, New York City saw numbers decline 3.2% in 2025. Editor at large Robert Silk spoke with NYC Tourism + Conventions CEO Julie Coker at the IPW conference last month about this year's prospects for the Big Apple.
Julie Coker
Q: How is international visitation to New York tracking this year?
A: Last year we had 12.5 million international visitors. Our current forecast calls for 12.9 million visitors for 2026. We did that forecast prior to the Iran conflict, so we're going to see how that plays out. And obviously, should that play out longer than anticipated, we think that could have an impact on international visitation.
Q: How big of a hit did you take last year in Canadian visitation? Do you have tracking on that this year?
A: Our numbers in 2024 were 983,000 visitors from Canada, and then in 2025 it was 796,000. So it was roughly a 19% drop. Two things: One is our drop was not as significant as some other major U.S. cities, but then the second thing is Canada still remains our No. 2 market behind the U.K. We were just recently in Canada; we did both a media and trade mission to Montreal and Toronto, where we expressed our appreciation for the Canadian travelers. We understood where there might be some hesitation but also we said that we're there for them when they're ready to come. And I do think the sentiment toward the United States from the Canadian traveler is starting to shift a little. We're watching that, but we have continued our investment in Canada last year and certainly into this year, so it is extremely an important market for us.
Q: How's World Cup visitation shaping up?
A: I'll refer to hotel data. At the end of March, looking at what was on the books for June and July, we were down 8% year over year. However, in April, looking at that same timeframe, we were only down 6% year over year. We did anticipate December of last year when the draw was done that we would see heavy commitment and pickup from fans. That didn't happen. What we think travelers are doing is really focusing on when their teams are going to play, and they're following those matches. So we do think that we're going to see some short-term pickup. The other good news about New York City is we have strong demand for summer travel in June, July and August anyway, so we believe that our hoteliers are going to be fine.
Q: Tell me about the experience of leading the DMO for the marquee U.S. city.
A: Forty-two percent of international visitors start their trip in the United States in New York City. So for us to have the opportunity to really promote the country to the world is a great deal of responsibility. I absolutely love the fact that we've got five boroughs and we have diverse experiences, and the fact that we're such a welcoming, inclusive destination.
Q: Is it easy to promote New York because of its iconic stature, or are there difficulties?
A: The challenge that we have is that we remain the No. 1 hotel market in the country, and as you can imagine, it's not always easy staying on top. We have to remain creative and competitive and innovative to ensure that we keep that No. 1 spot. Another difficulty of New York City is it's a very competitive landscape. New York City doesn't just compete against D.C. or Boston or Los Angeles or San Francisco, all iconic cities. We also compete against Tokyo, Lisbon, London, Paris. So, for those reasons, to keep the status that we have as a global city, and to keep our positioning, is very difficult.
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This interview was edited for length and clarity.