New York's a wonderful town for tourists

BY JEANNINE DEFOE
BLOOMBERG

New York, America's No. 1 tourist destination, is packed with more visitors this summer than ever, pumping billions into the economy -- and making life miserable for some residents used to having the city to themselves.

Visitors have been pouring in at a pace that will bring the total for the season to 12 million, a 4% increase over last year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a news conference recently. Average hotel occupancy in June was the highest on record, and getting a table on a Friday or Saturday night at a hot restaurant is almost impossible.

The influx from overseas and across the country is just a little much for some New Yorkers.

"Every time I go to a restaurant, if it's near Midtown and it's halfway good, it's full," said Tim Zagat, cofounder of New York-based Zagat Survey LLC, which publishes annual restaurant guides. "That wasn't true a year or two ago."

Tourism is New York City's fifth-largest industry, said Lisa Mortman, a spokeswoman for NYC & Co., the city's tourism and convention bureau. Visitors generate about $24 billion a year in economic activity.

New York this month was chosen as the top U.S. tourist destination for the fifth straight year, according to a readers' poll conducted by Travel & Leisure Magazine. San Francisco placed second and Santa Fe, N.M., third in the poll.

The dollar's 12.5% rise against the euro this year hasn't discouraged tourists from overseas, who Bloomberg said spend about five times more than domestic visitors. They are expected to account for 1.2 million of this summer's tourists, an 8% increase from last season, according to NYC & Co.

A record low crime rate is part of the attraction.

The tourist influx is evident in Broadway revenue statistics released by the League of American Theatres and Producers. In the week ending July 17, "The Phantom of the Opera" sold $814,857 of tickets, up 17% from two months earlier. Weekly revenue of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" was up 7.8%.

"It's annoying," Skanthan Vivekanada, a lawyer for law firm Cleary Gottlieb in lower Manhattan, said of the hordes of tourists. "Everything is sold out."

The city's hotel occupancy rate in June averaged 90.4%, the highest ever for that month and the best month in any part of the year since 1999, according to hotel research firm PKF Consulting in New York. The previous year's average was 87.2%.

"It's been crazy and insane," said Laura Bennett, a concierge for the Rihga Royal New York on West 54th Street.

"They all hear about Spice Market and Tao and Balthazar, and they're the only places they want to eat," said Bennett. "When you've got 40 guests asking for the same reservation, it's tough."

At the 102-story Empire State Building, 13,000 visitors take in the views on a typical day. Bob Zorn, director of observatories said the skyscraper charges $30 -- more than double the regular $14 admission fee -- for guests who want to bypass the lines.

The Gotham Comedy Club in the Flatiron district has been running 75% to 100% full on Sundays and Mondays, said co-owner Chris Mazzilli.

The club is usually half full on those days.

Visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue are encouraged to come before 11 a.m., said spokesman Harold Holzer.

Vijay Dandapani, chief operating officer of Apple Core Hotels, an owner of five budget properties including a La Quinta and Red Roof Inn, said the company's average occupancy rate of 90% and $140-a-night room rate are both records.

"I go out of my office, and I always see throngs of tourists," said Dandapani, who works just off Fifth Avenue on 39th Street. "It warms my heart."

Even New Yorkers who gripe about tourists admit they appreciate the visitors.

While "there are a lot of irritating things about people from out of town," it is good to see them making the effort, said Don Christensen, a 56-year-old freelance writer who lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

"It's a confusing city. Sometimes I get confused. To see the people trying to absorb what this city is all about, it's great."

That's So New York