New York Enjoying British Tourism

With an exchange rate of almost $2 to the pound New York is enjoying a British tourist boom. Compared to 2005, New York saw a 12% rise in UK visitors in 2006. In fact British visitors outnumbered those from Germany three-to-one and Germany is the second biggest European market to New York.

Aside from New York though, visitors to other destinations in the United States do not appear to be on the rise, and has been described as “flat as best” by the New York marketing agency NYC & Co.

New York started its current campaign to lure British tourists back in November, with adverts appearing on the London Underground. Now New York has other European markets in its sights with NYC & Co recently opening new offices in Scandinavia, Spain, Moscow and Amsterdam – spurred on by the $15 million grant per year increase from the Mayor of New York – boosting their spending budget by a massive 50%. Some of this cash is expected to be used to coincide with the imminent opening of NYC & Co’s Japan and China offices respectively, while a larger proportion is to be invested into a worldwide advertising campaign in summer 2007. The UK can also expect a TV advertising campaign to feature this autumn.