Tourism Advisory Council Meeting Monday, March 22, 2021 11:00am – 12:30pm Virtual Meeting AGENDA I. Attendance and Approval of Minutes Cristyne Nicholas II. Chair’s Report Cristyne Nicholas A. Introduction of new TAC members III. Tourism Advocacy Day 2021 Mark Dorr, NYSHTA IV. I LOVE NY Report Ross Levi A. New York Forward updates B. New York State tools for testing & vaccination C. Industry support projects D. Recent promotional work V. Supporting the arts during COVID-19 Mara Manus, NYSCA VI. New Business Next meeting: May 24, 2021 11:00AM – 12:30PM NEW YORK STATE TOURISM ADVISORY COUNCIL March 22, 2021 New York State Division of Tourism 1 CHAIR’S REPORT 2 TOURISM ADVOCACY DAY 2021 3 I LOVE NY REPORT 9 NEW YORK FORWARD UPDATES Indoor family entertainment centers: 25% (March 25) Event, arts & entertainment venues: 33% (April 2) Outdoor amusement parks: 25% (April 9) 10 NEW YORK FORWARD UPDATES Stadiums with 10,000+ capacity: 10% currently, 20% on April 1 Catered events: 50%, no more than 150 people, all patrons tested, advanced notification to local health departments 11 NEW YORK FORWARD UPDATES Indoor dining: 50% in NYC, 75% outside of NYC Movie Theaters: 25%, no more than 50 people per screen Billiard & Pool Halls: 35% in NYC; 50% outside of NYC 12 NEW YORK FORWARD RAPID TEST PROGRAM ° Unique public-private partnership to make low-cost rapid testing available to public ° Dozens of sites open across state ° Rapid testing available for no more than $30 with results within 30 minutes ° To learn more, visit: NY.Gov/RapidTestProgram 13 EXCELSIOR PASS OVERVIEW ° Convenient method to share and control access to COVID vaccination and testing records ° Users show “Pass” to businesses (or other authorized verifiers) and verifier can instantly determine that pass is valid ° Verifiers not able to see any more information than is necessary to verify validity 14 EXCELSIOR PASS JOURNEY 15 ACCESSING EXCELSIOR PASS 16 WORKFORCE INITIATIVE PILOT PROGRAM April 1: Tourism-Specific Downstate Regional Fair (NYC / Long Island / Hudson Valley) April 8: Tourism Pavilion at Capital Region Job Fair April 15: Tourism Pavilion at Finger Lakes Regional Job Fair April 29: Tourism Pavilion at Southern Tier Regional Job Fair 17 ILNY EDUCATIONAL WEBINAR SERIES 18 PR COVERAGE 19 INTERNATIONAL Adventure Travel Network Virtual Conference & Marketplace ° February 4-5: “Enjoying the Outdoors after COVID-19” ° 200+ attendees; I LOVE NY had several appointments ° Assembled substantial collection of adventure travel activities statewide ° Participated on panel “What Destinations Have To Offer The Adventure Traveler Post COVID-19” ° Only destination from North America at conference 20 INTERNATIONAL BRAND USA London ° I LOVE NY and NYC & Company invited to present to travel agents planning to send travelers to New York post pandemic ° 66 travel agents from England, Scotland and Ireland attended webinar ° Presented on attractions in 10 regions with emphasis on outdoors 21 FIND WHAT YOU LOVE 22 Tourism Advisory Council Meeting Minutes “Draft – Subject to Board Approval” Date: Monday, January 25, 2021 Location: Virtual Meeting (due to COVID-19 public health concerns and as authorized by Executive Order of the Governor) Attendance: TAC Members Cristyne Nicholas, Elinor Tatum, Dan Fuller, Thomas Mulroy, Alexandra Stanton, Thurman Thomas, Alana Petrocelli, Daniel O’Donnell, George Damalas (on behalf of Senator Serrano) ESD / NYS Staff Eric Gertler, President and CEO of Empire State Development; Ross Levi, Executive Director of Tourism; Richard Gagliano, SVP of Marketing; Kelly Garofalo-Wilkins, Senior Manager Tourism Projects Guests Josiah Brown, NYSTIA; Tori Emerson-Barnes, United States Tourism Association Meeting called to order: 11:05 AM I. Approval of minutes – Cristyne Nicholas ñ Motion to approve by Dan Fuller ñ Minutes approved with a second by Alana Petrocelli II. Remarks from ESD’s President, CEO & Commissioner ñ Want to thank the TAC members for your work on behalf of New York State and assure you that ESD’s leadership recognizes how important tourism has been to the state’s economic success ñ Governor Cuomo has made such a strong commitment to tourism in terms of time, resources and attention ñ Amazing to think of what has been collectively accomplished during this administration over the past 10 years ñ Since 2010, New York State’s tourism industry witnessed explosive growth: 35% increase in visitation, a $36 billion increase in economic impact, and most importantly a 31% increase in tourism related jobs ñ Unfortunately, as amazing as the track record is, New York State's tourism industry has been hit hard by the COVID epidemic, arguably the hardest of any industry ñ Some projections anticipate a 50% decline in visitors to NY State for 2020--recognizing there are some wide variations between regions; this impacts jobs, visitor spending and tax revenue ñ Tourism industry has shown amazing tenacity & innovation in facing unprecedented challenges posed by COVID o Attractions and destinations utilizing virtual reality applications and other digital media to allow visitors to experience attractions from home and adapted some offerings for safety and social distancing o Our tourism and marketing teams have been actively promoting virtual offerings of partners and creating “I LOVE NY at Home” experiences of our own o Promoting safe outdoor recreation / staycations as health & safety conditions have allowed ñ Collective efforts have helped keep otherwise closed attractions top-of-mind and reach a wider audience ñ Tough road ahead of us, but have reason to be hopeful o There was leisure travel activity this summer and fall, particularly to more rural, outdoor recreation-based destinations, welcoming a noticeable number of new, first-time visitors o Camping saw big uptick, with consumers trying this activity for first time and some areas seeing a positive halo effect on local retail and dining o State-owned ski areas reaching COVID-level capacity on weekends and have experienced record sales in season pass holders ñ Our research shows there is a lot of pent up demand, and New York State remains a top destination in the minds of travelers; the number of people who say they will definitely or probably consider NY for their vacation is up slightly from last year – now 85% -- and the highest of any destination in the Northeast ñ We recognize how important tourism will be in the economic recovery of New York State and we are committed to supporting the tourism industry once conditions with COVID make it is safe and effective to do so, just as we have done before COVID ñ Moving forward, will be focused on working with regional tourism partners, industry groups and other stakeholders to ensure we identify optimal efforts, timing and focus to rebuild tourism industry to the levels consistently enjoyed under Governor Cuomo’s administration 1 ñ TAC’s role in helping to improve guest experience is a valued part of the state’s tourism work; I encourage you to draw upon your expertise to provide input and share ideas and best practices from other destinations and from your experience as tourism professionals ñ As an advisory committee, we welcome your ideas on how we can help rebuild this sector of our economy III. Chair’s Report – Cristyne Nicholas A. Tourism Related Governor Announcements ñ Two significant tourism-related announcements from the governor: o Empire State Trail ° Now the nation's longest multi-use state trail, spans 750-miles total—75 percent of which is off-road trails ideal for cyclists, hikers, runners, cross-country skiers and snowshoers ° Expected to draw nearly 9 million residents and tourists annually ° Trail gives New Yorkers from every corner of the state a safe outlet for recreation as we continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic ° The new Empire State Trail website provides quick and easy access to trail information including segment descriptions, access points, trail distances, parking areas, restrooms, and nearby amenities and attractions; responsive and user-friendly design allows users to access interactive maps from mobile devices, zoom in to specific locations of interest, and download/print maps of trail segments ° Cyclists can print "cue sheets" with highly detailed directions for following trail segment o Moynihan Train Hall ° The $1.6 billion Moynihan Train Hall project, New York’s most ambitious transportation and infrastructure upgrade in decades, was completed on time and on budget despite the many setbacks 2020 presented ° Services Long Island Railroad and Amtrak trains, features 9 platforms and 17 tracks accessible from the main train hall, has direct connection to the Eighth Avenue Subway and train station from Ninth Avenue ñ We’ve been updating on progress for both developments, and are excited to see their completion as both will have significant, positive impacts on the tourism industry B. 2021 NYSTIA Goals – Josiah Brown ñ Mission: Leveraging the collective strength of the New York travel industry by providing collaboration, networking, education, advocacy and recognition to facilitate the success of our members ñ 2020 Programs & Initiatives o Convening the Industry – 30+ events including virtual meetings, webinars and conferences o Outstanding programming with world-class speakers o New Resources – new, state-of the-art marketing programs, legislative awareness and advocacy platforms o In-state travel initiative IV. I LOVE NY Report—Ross Levi A. Status of Tourism in New York ñ Received the 2019 tourism numbers; aware of