In an effort to help New York City focus on post-COVID-19 recovery, NYC & Company, the official destination marketing organization and convention and visitors bureau for the five boroughs of New York City, has created The Coalition for NYC Hospitality & Tourism Recovery to figure out the new normal and how the city can safely reopen its doors.
The Coalition will focus on recovery, messaging, marketing and promotion to restore New York City’s brand locally and beyond, and to safely engage, mobilize and champion all sectors of NYC’s tourism economy once the city begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Included in the coalition are heavy hitters including Danny Meyer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jonathan Tisch, and Tim Zagat.
The Coalition will be led by five co-chairs appointed by Charles Flateman, NYC & Company board chairman and executive vice president of the Shubert Organization. The co-chairs are Ellen Futter, president of American Museum of Natural History; Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem; Danny Meyer, chief executive of the Union Square Hospitality Group; Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer, lyricist and actor; and Peter Ward, president of the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO. NYC & Company will be responsible for coordinating and executing Coalition plans and managing work streams.
“Even though we’ve had to create distance, with our world-famous toughness, immense heart and boundless compassion, New York will not stay down. As government leaders announce new social distancing guidelines, it is time to consider how we can begin to reopen our doors and safely reconnect with our city and with each other, and with the visitors who will one day again flock to New York,” said Flateman.
Coalition leadership will also include the Chairman’s Circle of Advisors, comprised of the three former chairs of NYC & Company: Emily Rafferty, president emerita of The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Jonathan Tisch, chairman and CEO, Loews Hotels & Co., co-chairman of the board, Loews Corp., and chairman emeritus, U.S. Travel Association; and Tim Zagat, co-founder, Zagat Survey.