New York City to Add Nearly 5,000 New Hotel Rooms Over Next Two Years

. October 14, 2008

NEW YORK, NY, November 17, 2005. Fuelled by record visitor volume, a thriving economy, and significant additions to the tourism product, New York City is adding nearly 5,000 new hotel rooms to its current inventory of 70,723 by the end of 2007.

Hoteliers are developing properties that represent exciting new trends in New York City's hotel product such as chic budget, sophisticated boutique, and comfortable value-priced hotels. Development patterns show the strength of downtown Manhattan, Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens as visitor destinations with 18 properties slated for construction or renovation.

In addition to new properties from the Marriott, Hilton and Starwood brands, celebrity hoteliers including Andre Balazs (The Standard), Ian Schraeger (Gramercy Park Hotel), Jason Pomeranc (6 Columbus Circle and to be named Allen Street), Vikram Chatwal (The Night Hotel) and Robert De Niro (The Downtown Hotel) are investing in New York City's thriving tourism product. New York City is expected to close 2005 with an 87% occupancy rate and 22 million room nights booked, an increase of one million over 2004.

"Many of the new properties, in diverse locations such as Staten Island, TriBeCa, the Lower East Side, Queens and Harlem, will anchor the start of economic and business development in these exciting new neighborhood destinations and will introduce global visitors to new experiences in the Big Apple," said Cristyne L. Nicholas, President & CEO of NYC & Company.

Tourism is a powerful economic engine for New York City that generates $21 billion in direct spending, $12 billion in wages and $5 billion in city, state and federal tax revenues. New York City welcomed nearly 40 million visitors in 2004, whose spending helped support over 300,000 jobs in all five boroughs.