She may not be a New Yorker by birth, but country singer turned pop star, Taylor Swift has the city’s fiery spirit, making her the perfect person to sell the destination to a younger audience.
When NYC & Company – the official marketing organisation for the city of New York – appointed Swift as the city’s first global ambassador last year, it was met with cynicism, mainly from locals who said the Pennsylvania-born singer was the wrong celebrity for the job.
“New York kind of pulled me here like a magnet,” – Taylor Swift
Some questioned the decision asking how a ‘foreigner’ could adequately represent the city, while others said she’d be better off passing the job on to New York-based artists such as Alicia Keys.
But if you ask NYC & Company’s senior vice president of global tourism development – and the woman with access to tourism statistics – Makiko Matsuda Healy, Swift is ‘perfect’ for the role especially because she’s so new to the city.
“She captures the essence of what we’ve been trying to tell people about the destination for years – you’ll fall in love with New York the moment you arrive, which is exactly what happened to her.”
Makiko Matsuda Healy, NYC & Company senior vice president of global tourism development
Healy said the relationship between Swift and the marketing organisation was a natural one, which started as a simple conversation between the ‘Shake It Off’ singer and NYC & Company’s boss.
According to Healy, the two were chatting at an event when Swift mentioned that she’d fallen so head over heels with the city that she was planning on moving there.
And a few months later she did just that. In March last year, she officially became a New Yorker with the purchase of two apartments in the trendy Tribeca neighbourhood for around $20 million.
Healy said it wasn’t long after the move that the pop star contacted the organisation with an invite to her new apartment.
“She told us she wanted us to hear a song and we agreed and that’s when she played ‘Welcome to New York’.”
It only took one listen for the group to fall in love with the track (watch Swift perform the song below).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzr5VtFvSyw
Healy said Swift’s lyrics captured the ‘essence’ of the city from the local vocabulary to the friendly people and more importantly the message that you’ll fall in love with New York the moment you visit.
After that, contracts were signed, the tourism organisation was granted rights to use the song and they named her New York City’s first Global Ambassador.
“She speaks to a new generation of travellers because she’s not from here but she represents New York as someone who came and just fell in love with it. She’s a great example of that connection visitors will have with the destination.”
Although Healy wouldn’t reveal what Swift’s duties as Global Ambassador would include, she did say that the pop star will work with the tourist organisation throughout the year on different marketing initiatives.
So far, the collaboration has seen the seven-times Grammy award winner and NYC & Company launch the ‘Welcome to New York’ campaign, which uses Swift’s song to tell the story of New York City’s five boroughs – Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.
On nycgo.com, travellers can also view videos featuring Swift and get ideas on what to see and do in New York City.
Healy said she expects Swift’s appointment to help the city continue its trend of record growth.
Swift is expected to help the city continue to its trend of record growth.
Last year, New York City reached an all-time record of 56.4 million visitors.
Altogether, these visitors generated a record US$61.3 billion in overall economic impact, supporting 359,000 tourism related jobs and US$21 billion in wages.
Healy said Australians are a key market for the organisation, because it’s the fifth largest following the UK, Brazil, China and France.
Australian visitors into NYC has more than doubled in the last decade, up from 235,000 in 2005 and 652,000 in 2014.
They like to visit the destination year-round, although there’s a particular appeal for Aussies to be there during end-of-year holiday festivities.
Healy is in Australia this week along with five representatives from the The Roosevelt, Marriott International, New York Hilton Midtown, Wellington Hotel and The Mamara NYC Hotels for the annual Visit USA Expos.
The group will travel to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne over a week where they will meet and chat about NYC with industry professionals.
Look for the people in the picture above at your local Visit USA Expo to get all the information you need on the city and its properties.