The city of New York, one of the most touristic points of United States until the crisis of the coronavirus in March, will end the year with 66% fewer visitors and will not fully regain its pre-pandemic levels until 2025, as estimated by the agency in charge of its tourism promotion, NYC & Company.
In a statement with its forecasts for the 2020-2024 period, the agency said that the Big Apple was on track to record a record, with “solid results in January, February and early March”, but the security measures imposed to curb the contagions “put almost all leisure and most of the business on hold.”
“The result has been an unparalleled drop in visits during the remaining nine months of 2020. The forecast for the end of the year of 22.9 million visitors is 66% below the levels of 2019,” said this organization public-private that depends on the City Council of New York.
Few people on the steps of the curious Vessel structure in Hudson Yards. Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images / AFP
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According to these projections, the domestic tourism in the city will be reduced to a third, with 20.5 million, since the regional visits “rebounded in summer”, while the international tourism, with 2.4 million, is 80% lower, since the travel from outside the US is “frozen” since April.
“Due to the uncertainty generated by the pandemic regarding the economic recovery and consumer confidence in travel, the most conservative forecasts take us until 2024 to exceed the levels of 2019,” he said.
Health situation
NYC & Company is aware that plans for covid vaccinations will take shape in the first quarter of 2021 to estimate an increase in regional and short-haul visits within the US “in late spring and early summer.”
Souvenir shops, no tourists. Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images / AFP
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“If the health advances align with the relief from restrictions About activities and meetings, the pace may be faster. The international market may take longer to recover, but it could reach 2 million visitors by the end of the year, “he anticipates.
The agency clarifies that perhaps the tourism sector will return to its 2019 levels in three years, especially if the restrictions on business travel that affect large events and meetings are lifted in 2022, and also due to the “strong position.”
“It is worth mentioning that international travel after September 11, 2001 took four whole years to recover,” he concludes.
EFE
