Forget "Have a nice day", it's service with a snarl that most travellers have come to expect at US airports. But, as increased security measures and a reputation for rude immigration officials are becoming a turn-off for international visitors, New York City has gone on a charm offensive to win them back.
New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, determined not to let "a few bad apples" tarnish the city's reputation, has launched a $5.7m celebrity-endorsed drive to "bring tourism back to a local level".
The new Just Ask the Locals campaign aims to make the city more hospitable and is being fronted by celebrities, including actors Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore. Visitors can access their insiders' tips via a special phone line and website, on handout maps, or on short videos in the back of city taxis. The city will also be sending out 50 street teams of "ambassadors".
Many of the celebrities' tips are standard guidebook fare ("Most delis are open 24 hours", "Want to get to know downtown? Walk"), but it is hoped that tourists will take the slogan more literally and, seeing as De Niro is unlikely to be available, will start asking people they come across on the streets.
"New Yorkers have always been welcoming and friendly, but not enough people around the world know it," says Mayor Bloomberg. Residents are being reminded of their duty with banners that have appeared all over town.
Mayor Bloomberg says that the campaign aims to prove "not everything is in midtown Manhattan" and will start spreading the news across all five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. It also flags up all sorts of little-known neighbourhoods, including Little Neck and Flatbush.
The mayor has been on a big drive for tourism since taking office in 2001, with a goal of receiving 50 million visitors a year by 2015. Although the US has experienced a 17% decline in inbound international tourism nationwide last year (with British numbers falling by a quarter since 2000), New York's own figures have increased by 9%. The city now draws 18% of the total of overseas visitors, but 45% of all money spent.
Bloomberg admits that to entice visitors to New York "the experience of entering the country has to change". Last month, US security procedures came in for even more criticism after the nation's 43,000 airport screeners were advised to scrutinise anyone wearing a head covering that might hide explosives — a directive that was not welcomed by the country's Sikh community.
New York is also addressing the issue of airport overcrowding with its newly opened $1.3bn American Airlines terminal at John F Kennedy airport. Eight years in the making, it is the biggest investment the airport has seen in decades, with capacity for up to 13 million passengers a year.
Overcrowding is still a problem across New York airports, but Mayor Bloomberg dismissed a proposed solution involving flight rationing. "We want more flights coming into this city. Keeping people from coming doesn't make any sense for anyone," he sai
EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, determined not to let "a few bad apples" tarnish the city's reputation, has launched a $5.7m celebrity-endorsed drive to "bring tourism back to a local level".
The new Just Ask the Locals campaign aims to make the city more hospitable and is being fronted by celebrities, including actors Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore. Visitors can access their insiders' tips via a special phone line and website, on handout maps, or on short videos in the back of city taxis. The city will also be sending out 50 street teams of "ambassadors".
Many of the celebrities' tips are standard guidebook fare ("Most delis are open 24 hours", "Want to get to know downtown? Walk"), but it is hoped that tourists will take the slogan more literally and, seeing as De Niro is unlikely to be available, will start asking people they come across on the streets.
"New Yorkers have always been welcoming and friendly, but not enough people around the world know it," says Mayor Bloomberg. Residents are being reminded of their duty with banners that have appeared all over town.
Mayor Bloomberg says that the campaign aims to prove "not everything is in midtown Manhattan" and will start spreading the news across all five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. It also flags up all sorts of little-known neighbourhoods, including Little Neck and Flatbush.
The mayor has been on a big drive for tourism since taking office in 2001, with a goal of receiving 50 million visitors a year by 2015. Although the US has experienced a 17% decline in inbound international tourism nationwide last year (with British numbers falling by a quarter since 2000), New York's own figures have increased by 9%. The city now draws 18% of the total of overseas visitors, but 45% of all money spent.
Bloomberg admits that to entice visitors to New York "the experience of entering the country has to change". Last month, US security procedures came in for even more criticism after the nation's 43,000 airport screeners were advised to scrutinise anyone wearing a head covering that might hide explosives — a directive that was not welcomed by the country's Sikh community.
New York is also addressing the issue of airport overcrowding with its newly opened $1.3bn American Airlines terminal at John F Kennedy airport. Eight years in the making, it is the biggest investment the airport has seen in decades, with capacity for up to 13 million passengers a year.
Overcrowding is still a problem across New York airports, but Mayor Bloomberg dismissed a proposed solution involving flight rationing. "We want more flights coming into this city. Keeping people from coming doesn't make any sense for anyone," he sai
EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!