I am honored to work with, and to now represent, New York City’s association community as a new member of NYSAE’s board, particularly at this moment in time as our city begins to emerge from the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and gradually move towards recovery.

We at NYC & Company are pleased to share that in partnership with The Coalition for NYC Hospitality & Tourism Recovery, we recently published All In NYC: The Roadmap for Tourism’s Reimagining and Recovery. The Coalition is made up of industry leaders who are working together with our team to safely engage, mobilize and champion all sectors of New York City’s tourism economy, and this roadmap summarizes our response to the current moment and explains in detail how our strategies will evolve, moving forward. We know how critical it is that we support the City’s tourism and hospitality businesses by inspiring locals now, and eventually visitors, to safely reconnect with the five boroughs.

The roadmap details plans for All In NYC, a revitalization campaign designed by New Yorkers for New Yorkers; information about our new health and safety initiative, the Stay Well NYC Pledge; tactics for our renewed commitment to inclusivity, especially in lifting up NYC’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community; and our continued dedication to the meetings industry as the City works toward a new normal. Ensuring adherence to health and safety guidelines is key to building confidence in New York City’s response to the pandemic, and Stay Well NYC asks tourism and hospitality businesses and their guests to follow public health protocols and help the five boroughs reopen responsibly.

As you will see, a goal of the roadmap is to restore confidence among meeting and event organizers to choose NYC for future business. We believe this will be critical in positioning the City and all sectors of our industry for long-term success, and the business that NYSAE members represents will certainly play a role in this.    

I look forward to working with the NYSAE Board and with all our members, in the months ahead. Though we continue to face uncertainty, we know New York City has overcome enormous challenges before and we are confident that our industry can recover to be stronger, brighter, together.

 

Jerry Cito
Executive Vice President, Convention Development, NYC & Company