Tourism and Economy of New York City: The Potential for Those Wanting to Open a Business in New York

Updated on March 3, 2025

New York City, with a GDP of 2.3 trillion dollars, represents a market with enormous potential, especially for Italian companies wanting to sell food products, wine, fashion, and clothing in America. In fact, New York City generates a gross domestic product equal to that of all of Italy.

The Tourism Industry of New York City

New York City's tourism industry has shown a solid recovery, nearing pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, the city welcomed about 64.3 million visitors, with an increase of 3.5% compared to 2023, approaching the record of 66.6 million visitors recorded in 2019.

Economic Impact of Tourism on New York's Economy

The tourism sector significantly contributed to the city's economy, generating an estimated economic impact of 79 billion dollars and a direct spending of 51 billion dollars distributed across the five boroughs in 2024. This activity supported over 380,000 jobs, highlighting the crucial role of tourism in New York City's economic landscape.

Countries of Origin of New York Visitors in 2024

Domestic travelers, that is, Americans who visited New York in 2024, accounted for about 81% of total visits, while international visitors made up the remaining 19%. The main countries from which tourists visiting New York came are the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Brazil, and Germany.

Updated on February 3, 2024

In 2023, New York City was visited by 61.8 million tourists.The value of tourism for New York City is 74 billion dollars per year between direct expenses and associated revenue.

We are still below the record number of visitors in 2019: 66.6 million people, but well above 2022 when tourists in New York were 56.7 million. Of the 61.8 million visitors in 2023, 12.1 were in New York for business, with an increase of nearly 30% compared to the previous year. It is expected that in 2024 the record number of visitors in 2019 will be surpassed.

This is the ranking of countries of origin of international visitors: England, Canada, France, Brazil, Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Mexico, China. It is expected that in 2024 China will overtake England as the second country of origin of visitors to New York.

New York is the main gateway to the United States, operating the busiest airport system in the world. The John F. Kennedy International (JFK) and Newark Liberty International (EWR) airports recorded a total of more than 2900 flights international flights per week.

Updated on September 29, 2022

The 8 million people who live in New York City may seem like a small number when considering that each year, except for 2020 and 2021, Manhattan is visited by over 60 million tourists, and in 2019 alone, it reached 65.2 million visitors. Almost incredible when you think that the Italian population is about 60 million people! The 32.9 million visitors generated sales of about 52 billion dollars.

So we are talking about a number of people who annually crowd the streets of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New York City in general: selling in New York is like selling in all of Italy. An interesting fact, moreover, lies in the composition of these tourists, the majority of which are American. 

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, New York has remained the most important financial, cultural, artistic, and tourist center in the world

It is still considered a global city, for the impact it has on politics, entertainment, education, communication, and fashion. What do all these people who visit New York want to see? Among the top attractions are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 9/11 Memorial, the MoMA, and the Empire State Building. Hotel vacancy rates are very low: hotels and hostels always seem to be full! Occupied hotel rooms, which in 2012 amounted to 87.5%, jumped to 89.4% in 2021. 

New York, on the other hand, is the city where the major economic interests of the United States and the world are concentrated, and the salary of managers reflects this. The city boasts one of the highest average salaries in the USA and is growing by 0.9% with $83k, while the US average is $56,310. Another interesting fact is about port traffic. Elizabeth, in New Jersey, is New York's commercial port, a vital hub for maritime trade in the Atlantic, and is the second-largest commercial port in the United States of America. 

Update for 2022:

New York's economy has significantly recovered from the recession. In June, the city's unemployment rate dropped by -4.3% compared to 2021. New York City reached 6.2% unemployment, gaining 298,600 private sector jobs. Tourism has notably recovered, although not fully, while consumer prices and rental prices have increased by about 6%.

The positive side of the situation is that not only have new businesses opened in all neighborhoods, but new types of business are also emerging: from the end of 2019 to the end of 2021, over 2,000 places that did not fit existing classifications were opened. Not only that: the recently concluded Fashion Week marked New York's return to the Olympus of fashion after years in which it had lost part of its relevance, thanks to a more favorable exchange rate for the dollar that is pushing all major luxury brands to focus on the American market.

Update for 2020:

The pandemic has obviously modified the scenario present a few years ago. The worst of the crisis that upended the job market is gradually transforming New York into an economic environment with a different balance and new businesses.

Remember that in New York everything happens at ultra-fast rates: the change from a negative to a positive situation is much faster here than in other US cities. This is why the most resilient have used this situation to rethink their business models or diversify their investments. New businesses have emerged to adapt the supply to the new consumer demand, with a predominant focus on e-commerce, applications, and generally everything related to digital.

Looking at the job openings statistics for different job positions in July 2020, all sectors recorded a decline compared to the previous year, from 15% in healthcare to 52.5% in consumer services. If in 2019 there were 100 vacant positions in travel and tourism, there are currently 26. The tech sector, to support what was previously announced, saw an increase of 26%, driven mainly by the internet where there is a demand of +244% compared to 2019. 

During the years of the crisis, 2009-2011, when many economies were struggling to restart, New York City recorded an annual GDP growth of +3.1%

Some of the world's major metropolises, like Shanghai or London, recorded 4.3% during the same period. These, however, were not as hard hit by the financial crisis as the financial capital from which it all started: New York!

The current economic environment offers many new investment opportunities in finance, online, and especially in Real Estate: rents have fallen, some physical stores have closed, demand has decreased, and therefore much more space has become available at much lower prices than the pre-Covid period. Since the shutdown of Manhattan, the number of Real Estate sales has plummeted by 54%, bringing the average price to about 1 million dollars.

The United States is a land of great opportunities, and New York concentrates them all. For those who want to invest in America, New York is the right city.