NYC Tourism Shows Hopeful Signs Of Recovery From COVID

NEW YORK CITY — Tourism tanked in New York City during the coronavirus crisis, leaving hotels empty and iconic landmarks alike empty.

Now, as a much-hyped "Summer of New York City" nears, there are small but growing signs that visitors are returning to the city.

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently touted that 400,000 hotel rooms were booked in a single week.

"I did not expect it to be this soon," he said. "It's happening, and it's amazing to see, and this is going to be another one of the things that fuels the Summer of New York City."

NYC & Company tourism officials project that 10 million visitors will come to the city this summer. That's roughly half the visitors the city had in 2019, but still many more than the 4 million counted last summer.

As coronavirus restrictions lift with increasing vaccinations, there are more signs the city could hit the 10-million visitor mark.

Airbnb reported that 62 percent of its rentals in New York City this summer are for stays longer than 30 days.

The longer Airbnb stays are not a complete surprise given that short-term rentals shorter than 30 days are officially illegal in the city, but enforcement is spotty at best. And Airbnb has long been eager to position its rentals as good for the city's economy, especially as potential harsher regulations loom, as recently detailed in the Wall Street Journal.

“The new trends we are seeing demonstrate that travelers are looking to return to NYC and experience the magic of the City in different ways,” Alex Dagg, northeast policy lead for Airbnb, said in a statement. “No other city in the country was hit as hard as New York and we look forward to working with the City’s leaders to ensure home sharing is an important part of New York City’s recovery.”

Traditional hotels in New York City are not yet up to pre-coronavirus capacity. Many closed over the pandemic and others have housed people who are homeless or quarantining during COVID-19 infections.

The city's most recent total-room-inventory occupancy level stood at 47.5 percent, including both open and closed hotels, according to STR, a data firm.

But with only open hotels, hotel occupancy stands at 62.3 percent, STR data shows. That's roughly level with the national average of 66 percent.

De Blasio said Friday on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show that he expects the city to bounce back more faster than predicted.

“I think this summer is going to attract a lot of activity, including a lot more tourism than we expected,” he said.