As the crime rate in New York City has hardly improved, the number of tourists visiting New York City has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. According to a report released by the New York State Audit Office (Comptroller Tom DiNapoli) on the 23rd, the number of tourists who visited New York City last year was 62.2 million, 6.6% less than the total of 66.6 million in 2019, just before the pandemic.
Among these, the number of ‘domestic’ (domestic) tourists who visited New York City from other states in the United States was 50.6 million, which was 4.7% less than in 2019.
In particular, the number of ‘international’ tourists visiting New York City from abroad was 11.6 million, a whopping 14.1% decrease compared to 2019. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the total number of domestic and foreign tourists visiting New York City was 22.3 million, a sharp decrease of 66.5% compared to 2019.
The State Audit Office assumed that “the number of tourists to New York City is returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels,” and added, “However, New York City and the state government recognize that New York City is a city that is safe from crime for domestic and foreign tourists visiting New York City.” We need to focus more on getting it done. “This is because the number of tourists visiting New York City is decreasing as safety concerns grow due to a series of violent incidents such as shootings, robberies, and assaults,” he pointed out. Total spending by tourists in New York City last year was $48 billion, exceeding $47.4 billion in 2019.
In relation to this, the State Audit Office analyzed those expenditures increased due to increases in hotel room rates and other travel costs due to inflation. In fact, hotel room rates in New York City have soared to over $300 per night on average for hotels in Manhattan due to inflation and the influx of refugees.
Domestic tourists’ spending was $29.6 billion, a sharp increase of 21.8% compared to $24.3 billion in 2019, while international tourists’ spending was $18.4 billion, a sharp decrease of 20.3% compared to $23.1 billion in 2019. In other words, the spending of international tourists visiting New York City from overseas has decreased by more than 20%, which is having a negative impact on New York City’s tourism revenue.
State Auditor DiNapoli said, “Last year, domestic tourists led the recovery of New York City’s tourism industry. However, the recovery of international tourists is slow, so it is urgent to come up with countermeasures,” he said. “New York City must focus on maintaining a safe city. “If we speed up the recovery of international tourism, we expect 68 million tourists will visit New York City in 2025, exceeding the pre-pandemic level,” he said.