$100 Million in One-Time Payments to Support Hardest-Hit Tourism Workers.

Edited by: TJVNews.com

On Monday, at the Museum of Natural History in New York City, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a comprehensive $450 million “Bring Back Tourism, Bring Back Jobs” inclusive recovery package to support New York State’s hardest-hit tourism sector workers, revitalize the state’s tourism industry, and support businesses started just prior to or during the pandemic. Today’s announcement coincided with the reopening of international borders.

At the Museum of Natural History, the Governor was joined by representatives from I LOVE NY, NY Forever, tourism and business groups, as well as labor groups representing workers in the tourism industry. This package of programs represents a multi-faceted approach to revitalizing the industry through assistance for workers, investments in small businesses, and consumer-focused marketing around the nation and the world.

Below, are Governor Hochul’s remarks:

Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you.

Ellen, first of all, to you, for embodying that New York spirit that you spoke of so eloquently, the fact that you had to adapt this whole institution to the pandemic and make sure that your employees were safe and to have a vaccination site–I know you’ve had over 50,000 vaccines administered right here and now you’re welcoming the children in a place that they trust and they know.

So Ellen, you are one of those extraordinary New Yorkers that we talk about. Let’s give a round of applause to Ellen Futter, the president of Museum of Natural History.

I also want to acknowledge a number of the elected officials who are here as well. I know they were recognized but I never forget my elected officials, our partners in state and local government who’ve joined us here today and I want to make sure that we acknowledge many of the leaders of industry and the people who are the keepers of the flame, the excitement that is New York State tourism.

And we have Rich Maroko here, the head of the Hotel and Gaming Council here. Rich Maroko, thank you. Nancy Tavarez is here. You’re going to hear from her in a couple of minutes. Stuart Appelbaum, the president of retail, wholesale and department store workers. Thank you, Stuart, for your work. Kathy Wylde, our fantastic partner with the business community, president of Partnership for New York City.

Our senior leaders from my administration who are leading the charge to make sure that we come back from this pandemic strongly. Roberta Reardon, our DOL commissioner, Roberta Reardon. Hope Knight, our incoming Empire State Development president–congratulations, Hope. Ross Levi, executive director of director of tourism in I love New York, a creative genius here. Mara Manus, the New York State Council on the Arts president. Thank you, Mara, for all you do. And Quenia Abreu, New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce president who’s here as well. Cristyne Nicholas, the president of New York State Tourism Advisory Council as well.

And I know the elected officials were acknowledged, but think we might’ve missed Linda Rosenthal. Are you here? Okay, we got Linda Rosenthal.

Since day one, I’ve had one thought as your governor. It’s been a little bit short of three months. I want to make New York fun again. I want people to feel that vitality, that energy that all of us knew before the pandemic that we just embraced as part of our DNA, and we talk about tourism and I love the slogan, bring back tourism, bring back jobs, you bring back jobs, you bring back the workers in those jobs.

Today is a major milestone. It is the day we welcome back our international travelers. So those of you’ve enjoyed going through the airport without a crowd, sorry, those days are over, but that’s a good thing. I just had one resilient New Yorker tell me, came back from the airport and spent two hours in traffic because of the marathon, but said that was a good thing, I’m okay with that. That is so New York. We’re just so happy to have traffic back again and disruptions and marathons and Broadway plays and Billy Joel’s back and our sports teams are back and these wonderful cultural institutions are back as well. Upstate is back. Niagara Falls never turned off. Just wanted to tell you that. I went and saw Niagara Falls many times during the pandemic, talking about our idea of staycations up to the Adirondacks, the Finger Lakes, the Catskills, Thousand Islands, as well as the beaches of Long Island, how beautiful and charming it is and Hudson Valley.

No one has traveled to state more than I have. I have visited everything. I am one of those people who is inspired by Chevy Chase, his movies, I went in search of the world’s largest ball of twine. If you’re younger you probably don’t know what I’m talking about but you can look that one up.

So I’ve loved the adventure of being a tourist my entire life and so we have our international tourists come back, we have our Canadian tourists coming back, people in the North Country and Western New York are very excited to start seeing license plates from Ontario and Quebec. It’s been too long. And, I can see Canada from my house, and I’m very excited about seeing more traffic on the bridges as we cross over.

But this is an industry, tourism industry–how do you describe it? Everybody has their own idea of what tourism is. I believe that tourism reflects that very human quest for adventure and excitement and something that takes them out of their ordinary lives.

It also creates very human connections. Most people travel with friends or families or romantic partners, or they hope to come back with a romantic partner depending on where they go, so we know how important it is to just leave the safety of our homes and our secure environment and to push ourselves and to challenge ourselves and come to a place like this and to be so stimulated by the environment. And you’re going to walk away smarter and more knowledgeable about the world around you. That’s why people love this industry.

And those of you who are the keepers of the flame and the caretakers of all the different institutions represented, and they are so diverse, from the botanical gardens and the zoos and the cultural plays and the theater and all the great things we just love going to, art galleries, just walking the streets, the upstate festivals I went to to celebrate autumn. It is so extraordinary. It’s the cultural, the artistic, the entertainment experiences when we leave our homes–they really feed our souls. They leave us feeling enriched, and that’s why we felt we were hungry and starving during this pandemic.

Our souls were not enriched by these experiences, and in my opinion the only way we’re going to say that New York is truly back is when the tourism industry is back as well. I believe they are interconnected–our success as a state and the success of this industry.