New York state tourism has surged in unexpected places

Whether it has been streams of tourists flooding Times Square or masses of travelers driving upstate to see the total solar eclipse, tourism has rebounded significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York state. But while the travel restrictions and shutdowns that marked the height of the pandemic have faded, tourism still looks vastly different today than it did in 2019.

New York City – which accounts for 60% of all tourism spending in the state – still has not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels of tourism, though it has been improving rapidly. Last year, 62.2 million people visited New York City, about 7% fewer than those who came in 2019, according to a report from the state comptroller’s office. Though spending ticked up about 1% more than 2019, that increase also corresponds to high levels of inflation in the intervening years.

That’s in stark contrast to several regions upstate, which have seen a significant bump in tourist spending in the past several years. Central New York, for example, has exceeded 80% growth in tourism spending in 2022 compared with 2019. The Catskills and Adirondacks regions saw growth of more than 40% in 2022.

“While New York City is usually ahead of the rest of the state, in terms of tourism numbers. right now it’s a bit of the opposite,” said Ross Levi, executive director of tourism at Empire State Development.

These trends reflect how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed travel habits – for better or worse. Where limited air travel and remote work took a hit to New York City’s complex tourism industry, a push to drive to local, outdoor attractions that were safer to visit during the pandemic proved to be a boon to upstate leisure tourism. Understanding those patterns – and responding to shifting attitudes as travel options open up – has been essential for officials enticing visitors to the state. And it comes with major economic implications for the state, which received $123 billion in impact from tourism in 2022.

New York City nears return to normal

New York City, unsurprisingly, remains the state’s greatest draw for tourists. And its recovery largely has been fueled by a surge in domestic travelers. Where it’s lagging is bringing back international tourists and business travelers.

International tourists have flooded back to the city since the country’s borders reopened to nonessential international travel in 2021, accounting for 1 in 5 visitors in the city. But the number of international visitors coming for leisure in 2023 remained nearly 16% lower than the number of visitors in 2019. Getting those international tourists back would provide a major boon for the city.

“They spend more, they stay longer,” said Fred Dixon, who recently served as president and CEO of NYC Tourism + Conventions. “In fact, it takes the spending of four domestic travelers to equal the spending of one international traveler.”

One specific market is proving challenging: Chinese travelers. Tourists from China were New York City’s top spenders in 2019. Stricter lockdowns during the pandemic kept Chinese travelers restricted for longer than most other countries, according to the comptroller’s tourism report. And Dixon, who recently attended the U.S.-China Tourism Leadership Summit, said China has heavily promoted travel within its borders.

“We saw the boom that’s happening in domestic tourism,” he said. “Then, of course, the flight capacity is only about one-fifth today of what it was in 2019. You take all of those factors, you put them together, combined with a little bit stronger dollar, and you’ll see why the Chinese market is taking longer to recover.”

Declines in business travel are also hitting the city. In fact, Dixon said it’s the slowest sector to recover so far. The shift to remote work has led companies to cut travel budgets, sending fewer people to conferences or opting for virtual meetings over in-person gatherings.

“Companies are saving money by cutting travel expenditures,” he said. “Those have an impact on a large complex destination like New York City and would have much less if any impact at all on destinations like the Catskills that are going to be predominantly leisure.”

Upstate New York’s unexpected tourism boom

Changes to travel that hurt tourism in New York had the opposite effect in other parts of the state. Interest in avoiding COVID-19 brought travelers to more far-flung, outdoor areas. Limited air travel meant few international tourists were coming to New York City, but meant destinations within driving distance benefited from new domestic visitors.

“It’s almost half and half, like 77 million people travel domestically and 77 million people travel abroad,” said John Percy, president and CEO of Destination Niagara USA. “Of course, there’s some crossover in both of those markets. But when you didn’t have that audience that was traveling abroad, we were able to tap into that. So you had an additional 77 million potential customers.”

That’s apparent in the surge in tourism spending in upstate New York. Central New York, the Catskills and Adirondacks were the regions fared among the most successful. These were also the parts of the state that saw the lowest declines in traveler spending during 2020.

Oneida County in Central New York, which sits in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, is one area that has done particularly well. In 2022, traveler spending was up 30% relative to 2019, the highest of any county in the state. Sarah Calero, president of Oneida County Tourism, said the region benefited from different factors, such as its affordability, central location and rural nature.

Still, some tourism officials in regions that fared better in the past several years are bracing themselves for changing tides. Gina Mintzer, executive director of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce & CVB, said there were fewer visits to the area last year compared to 2022.

“We really looked at all the national trends,” she said. “The world was open. A pent-up demand to travel anywhere in Europe. Every friend that I have was either in Italy or Ireland.”

Percy said he is prepared to see a tourism drop-off in Niagara Falls because travelers may be returning to international travel.

“I think we’re still being impacted by revenge travel and people feeling cooped up for so many years and having extra dollars to spend,” he said. “But when does that run out?”

Keeping up momentum

Though New York City’s challenges remain, Dixon estimated that New York City will be back to normal tourism levels by next year. High-profile events are also expected to boost the city’s recovery, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.

Regions that have historically fared better are also working hard to stay enticing to tourists. Calero said Oneida County is leaning into newer markets, like film and television, encouraging productions to benefit from the state’s tax credits and to use the county’s diverse landscapes. Robert Restaino, mayor of Niagara Falls, has sought to make the city a year-round destination.

One thing is certain: tourism won’t be looking the same as it did pre-pandemic. Mintzer said her organization no longer even looks at 2019 figures.

“We kept doing that the last three years and then it was like, you know what, we’re all different,” she said. “Our travel patterns are different, the customer that’s coming here or who we’re targeting is different.”