Special winter tourism offers at NYC theaters, hotels, eateries
New York, Jan 18 (EFE).- New York City on Tuesday launched its winter tourism campaign, dubbed “Winter Outing,” with four consecutive weeks until Feb. 13 filled with special offers at hotels, restaurants, theaters and museums to attract tourists with the message that “New York is open.”
Newly installed Mayor Eric Adams was the official who kicked off the campaign with a presentation in the emblematic Empire State Building, which he said was built in a little over 13 months and, in and of itself, represents the city’s ability to move forward during difficult times such as the current coronavirus pandemic.
More than 500 restaurants have joined the campaign offering complete dinners for $29, $39 and $49, while 22 Broadway theaters – including those putting on the famous musicals “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” are offering “two for the price of one” ticket deals.
In addition, 134 hotels from all the “star” categories are offering special discounts, along with special prices at museums and general attractions during the coming weeks, all of which combined constitutes the third edition of the tourism campaign.
Tourism is the “heart and soul” of the Big Apple and is what enables the city’s magic to work, said the mayor, asking why would anyone want to go anywhere else and going on to praise the ethnic diversity of all neighborhoods in the city.
Why would anyone want to go to Paris, he asked rhetorically, claiming that it’s better to come to New York, and this competitive message with the French capital was repeated by staffers and the heads of restaurant, hotel and theater organizations.
The mayor also emphasized the economic importance of the tourism and leisure sector, which he said contributes $72.8 billion to the city’s economy and in 2019, the year before the pandemic hit, created 400,000 jobs.
Thus, pushing tourism is a way to “energize” the city, Adams said, insisting that all establishments that tourists typically visit are complying with Covid health protection guidelines, a significant statement with New York only just beginning to see a decline in the coronavirus infection trend after newly detected cases hit 80,000 per day during the last few days of 2021.
The mayor said that New Yorkers were not going to let Covid-19 define them but rather they themselves will define their future.
EFE fjo/laa/bp
