Though some reports say NYC tourism may not recover until 2025, the industry has been picking up for the first time since before the pandemic started — whether locals like it or not!
The Wall Street Journal recently collected various data touchpoints for the industry, and found that tourists are slowly but surely returning to the city.
Last week (March 13), NYC hotel occupancy reached its highest point since June, at 47%. And, foot traffic has increased in Times Square by 15% just since September, with about 115,000 people passing through every single day.
According to NYC & Company, tourism is projected to rise to 36.4 million visitors for 2021. That’s reassuring compared to the enormous drop to 22.3 million in 2020, but of course has quite a ways to go considering the 66.6 million in 2019. Still, this news is mostly regarding other U.S. visitors, as vaccination rates are picking up across the country — and of course, Governor Cuomo’s announcement that domestic travelers will no longer have to quarantine at all starting in April.
They also point to the plans for new hotels opening this year — like the Margaritaville Resort in Times Square — and museums back open. Now all we need is Broadway!
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