New York City (NYC) has witnessed a tremendous growth in the leisure travel from the India market. In 2016, NYC welcomed close to 319,000 travellers from the Indian market with a northward growth of 9.8 per cent. According to statistics by the tourism department, one third of the Indian travellers are from the travel to visit friends and relatives (VFR) segment.
Speaking about the trends, Makiko Matsuda Healy, Vice President, Tourism Development- APAC, NYC & Company said, “In the last five years, we have seen close to 60 per cent growth from the India market. We have seen an average length of stay of 11 days, which is further growing. Now more and more Indian travellers are doing a lot of activities in the city. Sightseeing, shopping, nightlife, cultural activities are all increasing. Travel to visit friends and relatives has always been one of the key drivers of Indian visitation to New York City, currently accounting to nearly a third of total Indian visitations.”
Amongst the trends, most visits to NYC by Indian travellers take place during the second and third quarters. Also, shopping and sightseeing have emerged as the most popular activities for Indian visitors to the city.
Healy added, “New York welcomed an estimated 290,000 Indian travellers in 2015, ending the year up nearly 12 per cent over 2014. 2016 growth of 9.8 per cent resulted in an estimated 319,000 visitors. India travel to NYC continues to be fuelled by the country’s emerging role in the global marketplace, driving increases in business, leisure and VFR travel to the US and NYC. We are expecting more growth this year again. This year we are promoting a lot of new things to India market.”
NYC & Company recently led a delegation to India visiting Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi to promote the destination. The destination is promoting newer products in the Indian market including; the ‘New’ Midtown with attractions like the Gulliver’s Gate, National Geographic Encounter, Ocean Odyssey and NFL Experience Times Square.
Speaking about the infrastructure development Healy said, “Right now we have 130,000 hotel rooms in New York City and in last seven years we have increased rapidly with tremendous growth. It’s not just in Times Square and Midtown Manhattan but also Downtown, Uptown, Brooklyn, Queens; there are a lot more hotels coming up in different categories and different locations which will give Indian travellers various options. The hotel pipeline is robust and there are a lot of new properties coming up in all different ranges.”
The top five source markets for NYC are UK, China, Canada, Brazil and France, growth wise China and India are the fastest markets. Also India has entered the list of top 10 MICE attendees in NYC last year. To further promote the destination, NYC is planning to organise a standalone roadshow in India next year.
