Dann Lewis

NEW YORK - Travel spending in New York State has grown to an estimated $287 million and 7,900 new jobs have been created since the inception of the Department of Commerce’s I Love New York campaign 18 months ago, according to an official department report. Results of the report, which were announced by Dann Lewis, deputy commissioner and director of tourism development, also showed that in New York city alone, 4,400 full-time travel-related jobs have been created since February when the Broadway Show tours began, and during the first seven months of the program, visitors to New York City spent $152 million more than they did in the same period of 1977.

In upstate New York and Long Island, visitor spending grew by $135 million during the summer of the campaign and created more than 3,500 new year-round jobs.

Dann Lewis also announced that his department is adding both managerial and clerical positions throughout the state as well as new equipment to improve the fulfillment capabilities of the program. The budget for the program, which has grown from $400,000 to approximately $12 million since its launch, now calls for the hiring of six new regional managers deployed strategically throughout the state, who will cooperate with the central offices in both Albany and New York City to creat new promotions and tour programs for the various counties in New York State. Additionally, Dann Lewis reported that a recently installed fulfillment system which becomes operational this month, will enable consumer requests to be channeled to a toll-free number and then transmitted into a central computer in Albany and fulfilled within 24 hours.

Another top priority item on Dann Lewis’ list is speeding up target dates on availability of promotional literature for seasonal campaigns. For example, the winter ski brochure was ready in October of this year as scheduled, but Lewis plans to have it available for the next winter season no later than September.

A number of 1979 programs will be added and others expanded, most notably the 1979 Broadway Showtours which will be expanded from 16 to 23 individual programs.

Dann Lewis also announced that New York has stepped up its participation in tourism industry meetings and special events. Lewis also pointed out that there will be continuing cooperation with both domestic and international flag airlines that serve JFK, LGA and EWR. The U. K., the Netherlands, Germany and France have already begun developing programs for European visitors interested in expressing their love for New York.

From: Travel Weekly, Helen Brower, January 1979

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