Bloomberg comes to Brooklyn Botanic Garden to Tout Rise in Tourism

Mayor Michael Bloomberg trumpeted a 6.8 percent rise in tourism in 2010 over the year before at a press conference in the Palm House of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this morning.

According to the mayor, 48.7 million people visited New York City in 2010, creating a net addition of 6,600 jobs. The mayor has a goal of 50 million annual visitors by 2012.

Last year, New York City was the No. 1 destination for foreign and domestic tourists alike, the mayor said, adding that the city is the destination for a third of all foreign visitors, with Los Angeles and Miami tying for second at about 11 percent each.  

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 on funding cultural institutions, which he said are the city's main draw for tourists.

Medbury said after the event that the jump in visitors 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 in visitors from the many special events connected to the garden's 100^th anniversary, he added.

Markowitz spent most of his time in the limelight touting Brooklyn's tourist attractions including, of course the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where he noted he got married, Prospect and Brooklyn Bridge parks Coney  Island, the borough's many hotels and The Nets, who are soon coming to Brooklyn.

"Brooklyn is a travel destination in its own right," said Markowitz. "Truth is you could spend weeks in Brooklyn and still not exhaust all the tourist options.

He estimated that 15 million tourists came to Brooklyn last year.

"There's one message I have for travelers to our city," Markowitz joked.  "Please don't forget Manhattan," adding that it was certainly worth "a day trip."