Bloomberg in Brooklyn, Touts Rise in NYC Tourism

Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a press conference at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens earlier today, trumpeting a 6.8 percent rise in tourism to the city last year.

According to the mayor, 48.7 million people visited New York City in 2010, creating a net addition of 6,600 jobs.

New York City is the number one destination for foreign and domestic tourists alike, the mayor said, and it is the destination for one-third of all foreign visitors. Los Angeles and Miami tied for second at about 11 percent.

In addition, New York City has a hotel occupancy rate of 85 percent, 25 percentage points higher than America's other major markets, he said.

"The bottom line is New York seems to go against the rest of the trends. We've done well," he said.

The mayor was joined at the podium by Brooklyn Botanic Garden President Scot Medbury, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel and NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta.

One of the reasons tourism is up is because the city has been pushing tourism to the attractions offered by the outer boroughs, such as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the mayor said, noting that the garden had an additional 10,000 tourists in 2010.  

He used the city's help in funding the garden's new $38 million visitor's center as an example of the priority his administration puts into funding cultural institutions, which he said are the city's main draw for tourists.

After the event, Medbury said the jump would have been higher if the Cherry Blossom and Chili festivals hadn't coincided with rain. The drop in visitors to those events was compensated for by the increase from the many special events connected to the garden's 100th anniversary, he added.

During the press conference, Marty Markowitz touted Brooklyn's many tourist attractions, including Coney Island, its many hotels and the imminent arrival of the Nets.

"Brooklyn is a travel destination in its own right," said Markowitz. He estimated that 15 million tourists came to Brooklyn last year.  "Truth is, you could spend weeks in Brooklyn and still not exhaust all the tourist options."

"There's one message I have for travelers to our city," Markowitz joked.  "Please don't forget Manhattan."