Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 7th, 2013
Everyone keeps asking why New York is so popular with foreigners……and it is. New York welcomes about 47 million visitors annually. The top producing countries for international visitors to New York City in 2011 were the United Kingdom (1,055,000), Canada (1,033,000), Brazil (718,000), France (662,000) Germany (587,000), Australia (532,000), Italy (495,000), China (427,000), Spain (422,000), Mexico (376,000), and Japan (299,000). Most visitors comment on how friendly New Yorkers are to foreigners, and this may also account why many of them end up buying property here, aside from a list of equally important reasons.
On the other side of the pond things are somewhat different: In an effort to improve tourism in a down economy, Paris is distributing pamphlets to local businesses teaching them how to not be so famously rude to visitors. Aimed at improving relations between the 80,000 visitors a day and front line workers like taxi drivers, servers, hoteliers, museum staffers and merchants, “Do You Speak Touriste?” provides colorful cheat sheets aimed at helping Parisians shed their snooty image. The city’s tourism board is passing out the six-page guide directly to service personnel, and has an accompanying website.
The French economy is really hurting, and unemployment is at 10 percent. Foreign investment is way down, so tourism is a key ingredient to the economic welfare of the country. The same is true for New York.
Now the French are learning that Americans demand WiFi, enjoy high-end hotels, and prefer to have dinner at 6 p.m. Meanwhile, Germans want to converse in German. Spaniards like amusement parks. Feeling uncertain about navigating an unknown city, the Japanese need to be reassured. And the guide describes the Chinese as “fervent shoppers,” gently reminding readers that “a simple smile and hello in their language will fully satisfy them.”
The pamphlet provides tips for 11 different nationalities in total. In America this pamphlet would have been deemed racist by now surely?
Maybe New Yorkers could teach Parisians a thing or two about treating tourists well. It certainly pays dividends. Condominiums have certainly opened their arms to foreign buyers whereas most co-ops have made buying as a foreigner extremely difficult if not impossible……they have paid a terrible price, watching their condominium counterparts soar in value.
The reality is that friendly, pleasing living environments are not only good for people, they are equally good for economies and real estate valuations!