Never slow in grabbing headlines or sending out press releases, NYC and Company – the tourism marketing arm for New York City – is now specifically targeting us to visit the Big Apple this summer.
Of the 52 million people who visited the city last year a million came from the UK which is more than came from any other overseas country. The campaign, which is called A British Guide to NYC, is slightly different from other promotions over here because it doesn’t just concentrate on Manhattan. This highlights features of all of New York’s five boroughs and draws attention, for example, to the fact that the city has 14 miles of beaches. Most people will have heard of Coney Island, beloved by New Yorkers for decades but there are many others. In addition there is also a guide to the five boroughs on the NYC & Company website.
This promotion takes the form of a blog which is being written by one of us so that the language in which it is written is more akin to words we would use rather than that used – and maybe misunderstood – by New Yorkers. This blog which is on Tumblr has been up and running since the 6th of May and is being updates daily so new events, shows and last minute changes should appear there. A lot of the content, which will run until the end of August, will consist of images whilst the words are secondary. The advantage will be that it should highlight parts of New York that even regular visitors may not know.
Take, for instance, a piece of sculpture damaged by the events of September 11th and known as the Sphere. It has been in New York for over thirty years as a hope for peace. After the damage it now sits at the base of Manhattan near to where the Staten Island Ferry goes from. How many people from the UK are aware that it is even there? Or see the irony in the fact that it ws damaged in a terrorist act?
Now in this wider promotion of New York visitors will be aware that there is more than just the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and Time Square.