As NYC Tourism + Conventions President & CEO Fred Dixon prepares to take off his NY cap and take on the top role at Brand USA, he shared the latest updates for the United States’ largest city and largest international gateway at IPW24 and why overseas travellers are so important to the visitor economy.
Last year, New York City welcomed 62.2 million visitors, recovering 93 per cent of its record 2019 visitation with an expected 97 per cent recovery in 2024.
In 2024, NYC Tourism + Conventions expects 64.8 million visitors of which 13.3 million will be from overseas, setting the record for international visitation in the US.
Dixon said international travel is critical to NYC, representing 20 per cent of total visitors but 50 per cent of both total spend and hotel room nights.
“It takes two domestic visitors to equal the economic impact of just one international traveller,” he said.
“International travellers are setting the trends. They’re paving the way for new destinations throughout the five boroughs and in many ways that domestic audiences are following.”
Australia was one of NYC’s top 10 markets for international visitation in 2023 with 591,000 travellers, punching way above its weight in terms of airlift capacity with just under 5,000 weekly seats from the Oceania region in total.
NYC is an important gateway for US travel with continuing investment in airport upgrades and a total of 128,000 hotel rooms expected by the end of 2026.
New York City is also a business capital, however, business travel has been slower to return and is not forecast to achieve full recovery until 2026.
NYC Tourism + Conventions focuses on 2024 and beyond
Dixon said the destination marketing organisation’s target audiences are cultural visitors, historic travellers and the travel trade and will focus on key themes of arts and culture, history and sports for the next few years with notable events on the horizon.
Arts, culture & history
Some of the 2024 highlights include the ongoing celebrations of the 50th anniversary of hip hop in its birthplace, the Whitney Biennial through to August and the return of NYC Broadway Week from 3-15 September.
On the horizon, NYC will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding as New Amsterdam in 2025 and America250 – the 250th birthday of the United States in 2026 when New York was the first capital.
NYC Tourism + Conventions has tapped award-winning composer, playwright and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Moana, In the Heights) as the spokesperson for these two historic anniversaries, acknowledging the important stories of underrepresented communities and their contributions to modern NYC.
“While we celebrate these historic milestones, we’re consciously approaching the campaign with a focus on inclusivity, acknowledgement and education,” Dixon said.
“This will mean sharing the important perspectives of underrepresented audiences, including the indigenous communities and people who were first, women, LGBTQ people and people of colour.
“So they’re important stories that are going to be featured in all the work that we do and the contributions they made to what is now in New York City.”
Sports update
As part of the America250 celebrations, New York Harbor will host the largest fleet of tall ships and grey hull ships for Sail4th250 on 4 July 2026.
NYC and New Jersey will also jointly host the FIFA Club World Cup 2026 Final at MetLife Stadium.
Reflecting on his time at NYC Tourism + Conventions at IPW24, Dixon thanked the international travel media for their support.
“I’m not going to think about this as my last New York City press conference, but it is bittersweet and I get in all of my feels when I think about it,” he said.
“It’s been a remarkable journey over the last almost 20 years working with all of you and I look forward to continuing that role at Brand USA – it’s going to be another exciting journey.”
For more info on NYC Tourism + Conventions, head to nyctourism.com
