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Vallone Proposes Creation of an Office of
Interagency Tourism Affairs
On Wednesday, Council Member Paul A. Vallone chaired an Economic Development Committee hearing focused on New York City tourism, where Chair Vallone’s bill to create an Office of Interagency Tourism Affairs was discussed by Committee members and the Mayor’s Administration. The Office would be responsible for establishing a system to receive public comments and questions regarding tourism, relay comments and questions to the respective city agencies, and coordinate communications between agencies and aid in the resolution of interagency matters, including transportation, quality of life and other safety-related matters.
The Office would be led by an appointed director and be charged with submitting a quarterly data report on the number of queries or comments received and response time and efforts, as well as a five-year plan for growth and sustainability of the tourism industry in the City of New York. If passed, the bill would take effect in 120 days.
Currently, NYC & Company functions as the city’s tourism bureau and handles marketing to maximize opportunities for travel and tourism in New York City, build economic prosperity and spread the dynamic image of NYC around the world. Both NYC & Company President and CEO Fred Dixon and NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) representative Sabrina Lippman said in testimony that their respective organizations support the intent of the bill.
“We do support the intent of the bill and we think there’s a lot of good things in there,” said NYC EDC Vice President of Asset Management Sabrina Lippman. “If we have those lines of communication with DOT, or with DCLA with any of our cultural institutions, we’ll be able to connect with them and field those [issues] to the appropriate agency.”
“From a hot restaurant on Astoria Boulevard, to the Brooklyn Museum, to Aladdin on Broadway in Times Square, our local business owners and entertainment centers should have a dedicated place to turn to when faced with day-to-day city issues like reporting a lingering construction project or navigating the city’s permitting process,” said Council Member Paul Vallone. “While NYC & Company continues to do great work promoting New York City from a large-scale advertising and marketing perspective, an Office of Interagency Tourism Affairs would provide focused coordination between city agencies and the business, arts and entertainment hubs that will contribute to continued success in our city’s tourism sector, as well as sustained quality of life for our New Yorkers.”
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Queens Courier
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