Growth of Urban Tourism Hotspots
- A tourist hotspot is an area that attracts a large number of tourists. It may also be called a honeypot
- Various factors determine whether an area is a hotspot:
- Climate - hot and sunny weather in summer can lead to seasonality of tourism
- The culture of an area, such as clothing and food, may encourage more people to visit
- Natural landscapes such as mountains, rainforests and coasts
- Government investment and planning may lead to the creation of new sporting arenas
- Sporting events such as the Olympics
- To be a successful hotspot, it is most likely that the location would have a range of the following:
- Accommodation, which reflects the demand
- A wide range of transport options
- Public utilities which meet the needs of visitors
- Investment from governments
- Hotspots may be:
- Seasonal - tourism peaks at particular points in the year
- Diurnal - tourism may peak at specific points of the day
New York: An urban tourism hotspot
New York - An urban tourism hotspot
- The primary resources include historical monuments, vibrant cultural scenes and museums
- Secondary resources have developed across New York to provide for tourists, including hotels, restaurants and modern museums
- Some challenges caused by tourism in New York City include:
- The Brooklyn Bridge was closed twice in 2018 due to overcrowding
- Overselling of access to the Statue of Liberty
- Over 400ft queue of people who wanted access to the Empire State Building in June 2019
- Tourism is seasonal in New York due to the climate, with a low season in February
- In 2020 tourism declined by 65% due to COVID-19
New York tourism strategy
| Strategy | Features of the strategy |
|
Infrastructure development |
The city is advertised towards a wide range of tourists with its variety of transport and over 120,000 rooms available in hotels |
|
Marketing campaigns |
NYC & Company's marketing campaigns, like "NYC Homecoming", provided a week of concerts in Central Park to encourage tourism. COVID-19 It's Time For New York City - a multimedia campaign to attract domestic and international tourists A multimedia campaign, SavorNYC which has a monthly food theme |
|
Cultural events |
New York Fashion Week and the Tribeca Film Festival |
|
Sustainability initiatives |
Green certification programmes exist in partnership with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Bike sharing with Citi Bike Zero Emission buses |
|
Digital innovation |
Smart tourism apps such as ‘sit or squat’ monitor the cleanliness of toilets in the city RiseNY offers replica visits on the first subway trip from 1904, interactive galleries and flight simulation |
|
Collaboration with stakeholders |
The city collaborates with businesses, hotels, and attractions to ensure a coordinated approach to managing and promoting tourism sustainably |
- New York's tourism strategy also aims to:
- Increase the number of international travellers
- They will spend longer in the city, which will increase visitor spending
- Create multicultural content hubs which celebrate the diversity of the communities that make up New York
- Launch a Halal travel guide for the city
- Decrease seasonality
- New York City hotel week encourages tourism in the winter and offers a discount on hotel rooms
- Invest over $20 billion in the city’s major airports
- Diversify tourism through Gansevoort Peninsula, which is Manhattan’s first public beach
- Increase transport
- A new railway station opened in 2021 to relieve pressure from Penn Street Station
- Regenerate public spaces
- The HighLine was developed from a disused railway track
- Increase economic impact
- Market New York is a grant project which provides funding for projects
- Increase the number of international travellers
