New York’s tourism leader has heaped praise on Australia, describing us among “world’s most intrepid travellers”.
George Fertitta, chief executive of NYC & Company, told Travel Today he was in “awe” of our appetite for travel.
His lavish praise came amid projections that an additional 100,000 Australians would travel to New York over the next four years (Travel Today, yesterday).
It will take arrivals from 533,000 recorded in 2011 to 632,000 in 2015.
“We have such high hopes for the Australian market. I am in awe of Australians and how they travel all over the world,” Fertitta told Travel Today in Los Angeles. “They are the most intrepid travellers. No one goes to all the boroughs of New York as much as the Australians. They go everywhere.”
Australians also have boundless energy, according to Fertitta, and make full use of their time overseas.
“We see them at 2am on the streets and at 6am,” he said.
While latest figures – which date back to 2010 – show Aussies stay an average of nine nights, many stay for 12 or even 14 which further boost the New York economy, he said.
Earlier, Fertitta told international media that promotional efforts would be stepped up in the fast growing markets of Brazil, China, India and South Korea.
“We expect traditional markets to slow,” he said.
Asked if additional marketing funds would be channelled into Australia, Fertitta said: “We are working through all that at the moment.”
