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NYC prepares for MidEast surge with Arabic content

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Makiko Matsuda Healy

NYC & Company, New York City’s official destination marketing organization and convention and visitor’s bureau, released a new Arabic-language version of the organization’s acclaimed Halal Travel Guide.

This comes as New York City’s tourism rebound continues with an expected 56.7 million visitors in 2022, roughly 85 percent of record 2019 visitation of 66.6 million. This year, international visitation is expected to triple to 8.3 million, including approximately 140,000 visitors from the Middle East.

“As tourism recovery accelerates and we continue to welcome global travellers to New York City, our goal is to provide trip planning resources which authentically reflect our diverse communities across all five boroughs–as well as those of our visitors,” said Fred Dixon, President, and CEO of NYC & Company. “A major commitment to Muslim travellers was the launch of our Halal Travel Guide earlier this year–a first for any US destination. We’re pleased to now launch the new Arabic-language edition of our guide to halal travel in New York City, and we greatly look forward to welcoming visitors for their next vacation or business trip.”

This year, international visitation to New York City is expected to triple to 8.3 million, including approximately 140,000 visitors from the Middle East

 

First launched in English earlier this year, the Halal Travel Guide spotlights and encourages visitation to the rich abundance of halal restaurants, Muslim history, and tourism sites across New York City’s five boroughs. The guide, which also shares tips and advice from Muslim travel experts was created by NYC & Company, in partnership with halal-friendly travel authority Halal Trip/Crescent Rating.

The Muslim community has been an integral part of the fabric of New York City for nearly 400 years, with more than 275 mosques across all five boroughs–more than any other metro area in the United States. The guide includes prayer places and their distance/time from the featured attractions, restaurants, and hotels.

NYC & Company, the first US tourism organization to create a dedicated resource for Muslim travellers, launched the translated guide during a Middle East Sales Mission engaging travel agents and tour operators across the region.

Led by NYC & Company’s Makiko Matsuda Healy, Managing Director, Tourism Market Development and five New York City tourism partners, the sales mission took place in October 23 to 28 in Doha, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.

“We are pleased to return to the Middle East this week for our annual NYC sales mission. As we continue to rebuild tourism, it’s critical that we re-engage with the travel trade and continue to diversify our international outreach,” said Makiko Matsuda Healy, Managing Director, Tourism Market Development for NYC & Company. “New York City always evolves and reinvents itself, with new hotels, museum exhibitions, shopping, dining, and attractions, plus 19 new Broadway shows debuting this fall alone. There is more to see and do than ever across all five boroughs, and we’re pleased to work with our trade partners to create new, iconic, and unexpected experiences for Middle Eastern travellers.”

New York City is currently home to 124,000 hotel rooms, with more than 10,000 additional rooms expected to open in the next two years. Notable highlights include the recent opening of Aman New York and Hard Rock Hotel New York, as well as the City’s second Ritz-Carlton.

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