NYC & Company head down under for trade trip

Brooklyn Bridge 125th Anniversary

NYC & Company kicked off a trade trip down under with a Friends of New York function in Sydney on Friday.

Representatives from The Roosevelt, Marriott International, New York Hilton Midtown, Wellington Hotel and The Mamara NYC Hotels will tour Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne across this week, participating in the Visit USA program.

Leading the team is NYC & Company’s senior VP of global tourism development, Makiko Matsuda Healy, who says there’s plenty to showcase from the destination.

“NYC & Company wanted to build on the success of the East Coast USA Mission in July 2014, and continue to develop new and loyal relationships, while also keeping the Australia and New Zealand market up to date on new products and openings in the City,” she said.

With the increasing interest in the USA by Australians and New Zealanders, NYC & Company is keen to demonstrate the diversity of product, the ever-changing landscape and the authentic experiences to be found in the City’s five boroughs through the popular ‘Neighbourhood x Neighbourhood’ program – especially as It is a city that sees a high percentage of repeat visitation.

New York City is the nation’s number one big city destination, the number one port-of-entry for foreign visitors, the number one city for tourism spending, and has the highest share of overseas visitation to the U.S.

NYC & Company recently announced its visitation success reaching 56.4 million visitors ahead of its target of 55 million by 2015, with Aussie visitors coming in at the fifth largest market.

The projected figure for Australian visitation is 652,000 (up from 619,000 last year) and New Zealand visitation for 2014 is 27,000, up on the previous year.

NYC & Company will be attending the Discover America Expo in Brisbane today and Melbourne tomorrow, before hitting up the Discover America Expo, Visit USA Media Marketplace B2B and Networking in Sydney (18, 19, 20 February).

The group will then cross the ditch to New Zealand to participate in the Visit USA Expo and B2B function in Auckland on February 24.

NYC & Company will be highlighting to trade the importance of the Travel Training Academy (TTA) and the benefits of registering and completing the course to become a NYC specialist – which includes access to trade discounts plus complimentary CityPASSes.

The Brand USA Hawaiian Trade Mega Fam will follow shortly after in March, and incorporates five days in New York City with Australian and New Zealand agents, as well as visiting the neighbourhoods of Astoria and Brooklyn, incorporating the icons as well as new product.

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