View From Afar S1, E22: IPW 2025 | Julie Coker, President and CEO of New York City Tourism and Conventions

I’m Billie Cohen, Afar’s editorial director, and welcome to View From Afar, a podcast that spotlights the people and ideas shaping the future of travel. And in this special series, I’m coming to you live from the floor of IPW, the annual travel conference organized by the U.S. Travel Association to share the best of America with the rest of the world.

In this episode, I’m talking with Julie Coker, president and CEO of New York City Tourism + Conventions. And as a New Yorker myself, I’m especially excited about this conversation. Julie is new to the job. She started in December 2024, but she arrived with a lot of experience. Prior to this role, she was president and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority. And before that, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau. So she knows a lot about tourism in big cities.

And there’s none bigger than the Big Apple. More than 8.4 million people live here—that’s more than any other city in the country. Luckily, Julie is no stranger to big challenges. In her role as head of tourism in Philly, she oversaw the 2017 NFL Draft and the 2016 Democratic National Convention. So handling New York’s many upcoming events—including the World Cup and the city’s 400th anniversary—should all be a breeze. We’ll talk about that and what the city has planned for its America 250 celebrations—plus, how she’s settling into New York.

Transcript

Billie: Welcome, Julie!

Julie: Thank you!

Billie: I’m very excited to talk to you. I know we’ve had a lot of people in here, but I’m most excited to talk to you because New Yorker to New Yorker.

Julie: I love it.

Billie: But I’m starting with the hard hitting questions because you hosted an amazing lunch for all of IPW with Broadway stars, Darren Criss, and some amazing musicals. But you led with a statement that you said the best pizza in New York is in Queens and the best bagels are in Brooklyn. Did you have specific places in mind?

Julie: I was really just trying to give love to all of our boroughs because you can find the perfect slice of pizza, soup, dumplings, bagel in any one of our five boroughs.

Billie: It is true.

Julie: They’re all absolutely amazing. So yeah, I did, I did use the word best. You’re right, you’re right.

Billie: And you may be right. I mean, I feel like in New York the next best thing right? Is just like some place that someone hasn’t discovered yet.

Julie: For sure. And what I’ve found being new to New York is what I love is just the number of New Yorkers that are eager to give their recommendations. So you stop them and ask like, where can I get your best cheesecake or Italian food? And they jump right in. They are like, you could go here. You could go there. And what’s great is they give you multiple choices. And as you know, everyone is very passionate about their own borough. So everyone thinks that their borough is the best, which I love. I love that.

Billie: So you’ve just moved? When did you arrive in New York?

Julie: I arrived in New York in December. I was just telling someone the other day, it is probably the most magical time of the year to be in New York City, certainly with all of the amazing decorations. But just, you see everything from children seeing the tree at Rockefeller Center for the first time or someone taking in the show at Radio City Music or their first Broadway, and you just see the excitement just kind of light up on people’s faces and whether they’re there to see family or friends so I’ve been there, I’ve been in New York now for six months.

Billie: It can be hard to be a newbie in New York and you have to come in and lead the tourism organization. What’s that like?

Julie: That is what is amazing about travel and tourism, right? It really stretches across all sectors. So whether I’m meeting with a real estate developer who’s looking for a hotel deal, that conversation around travel and what brings people to New York is kind of that unifier. I can have a completely different conversation with someone looking to open up a new restaurant or speak to one of our members at one of our attractions, so that’s the great thing about being in the industry that we’re in, is it’s an easier entree into talking to people because first of all, they’re so passionate about New York.

And so as I was getting to learn the city and learn the favorite spots, it’s always easy to say, I’m new to New York. And people just take it from there and they give you all sorts of great advice. And so it’s really good. And then of course, everyone wants to show you their favorite exhibit or why our observation deck is the best or you gotta become a Yankees fan. No, maybe you want to become a Mets fan. So it all, it all works. It’s good.

Billie: Not entirely new to New York, right? You were in Philly for a very long time, and so clearly you’re familiar with the city, but, when you, when you started, was there anything about the city that surprised you?

Julie: You know, fortunately over my career, I’ve been in several major metropolitan cities. Chicago, when I worked for Hyatt Hotels for 21 years. Philadelphia, the fifth largest city, second largest on the East Coast, San Diego, the eighth largest city.

So fortunately I have been in urban destinations. What is unique, I think, to New York City versus any other city is just the diversity, one of the people, but also the diversity of the economy. Certainly travel and tourism is a big driver of New York City’s economy, but because we have such depth and breadth, whether it’s in innovation and technology, whether it’s life sciences, whether it’s real estate, certainly the culturals, there’s different levers that we can pull on to make the New York City economy grow. And certainly travel and tourism is a big part of that.

That is very unique, I think. And I think it’s also a part of why we have been very resilient, whether it was coming back from 9/11, whether it was coming out of the financial crisis in 2008. And certainly we can point to COVID. In my opinion, and I wasn’t even in New York at the time, New York City, it came back faster I think than any other large metropolitan city in the U.S. And I think it’s because of the diversity of the economy, the people, and the resources that we have in New York City.

Billie: So you have a great career. Why did you choose New York? What drew you there?

Julie: I was with Hyatt Hotels for 21 years and made the decision in 2010 to move over to the destination marketing world because I wanted to have a larger impact than just the hotel that I was managing. And so I started in Philadelphia, which was great.

Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. So it was home and it was a natural. Had the opportunity to expand my horizon and really sell what I think is a more leisure-focused destination, San Diego. San Diego is 70 percent leisure destination, 30 percent meetings and groups, and certainly growing internationally.

And really the opportunity to put all of those things together, the hospitality, the service, the culture that I learned from Hyatt Hotels to the East Coast grit and and resilience of a New York City to the beauty and culture and leisure destination that San Diego is—it is all rolled up into this moment of this opportunity of New York City.

And also too, just most importantly, I mean, New York City is the mecca. It doesn’t get any better than New York City. When you think of travel and tourism, you think of New York City, and the idea that New York City is spoken about in terms of travel and tourism, it’s not just U.S. destinations.

We are competitive with Dubai and London and Paris and other world-renowned international cities. So the opportunity to be a part of our future coming out of COVID was just an offer and an opportunity that no one would turn down.

Billie: And so do you have a vision for what you want to achieve.

Julie: Sure. There’s a couple of things. Obviously we need to continue to be as resilient as we have been. So diversity of product and offerings is extremely important. Believe it or not, we still are adding new attractions and events and culturals to New York City, you know, the Etihad stadium will come alive in 2027.

Such iconic things like the Waldorf will return to New York City this year. The Frick is now, you know, reopened. So we’ve got a combination of Mercer Labs, which is this immersive experience technology-forward that is also an art form, paired with things like the iconic Met, so we have something for everyone, which is, I think, our secret sauce, and continuing to have diverse offerings is important.

The other major focus for us is to ensure that the travel and tourism economy is equitable in all five boroughs. That means getting the 64 million visitors that we are forecasting this year to visit and be a part and spend money and enjoy all five boroughs, but most importantly, understand and learn more about some of our underserved communities.

And then the last thing I would say is making sure that we are continuing to be a leader in very important things like diversity, equity, and inclusion. A welcoming destination, a sustainable destination. A place, like we said earlier, that everyone should be in every corner of the earth can see themselves in New York City. Those are the things that we want to continue to expand and grow.

Billie: What you said, New York is unlike any other city, so it must have tourism challenges unlike any other city. What are some of the challenges that you see facing us in the coming years?

Julie: Sure. I’ll start with, international travelers are 20 percent of our total visitation, but they are 50 percent of our visitor spend, so they are extremely important to our visitor economy. And the visitor spend that is left in New York City that all New Yorkers benefit from. And so, first and foremost, the geopolitical tensions that we’re seeing right now, the negotiations of tariffs, and visa wait times. And, as we’ve heard during the show, you know, some of the infrastructure challenges that we have at various airports.

So the overall perception of the United States is something that we’re continuing to counterbalance the narrative with the welcoming, diverse openness of New York City. We’re leaning very heavily into the Statue of Liberty with Love + Liberty [campaign] New York City. So those are challenges that we are watching very closely.

What I will say about New York City is because we are so diverse and because we’ve been here before, and we know, economic challenges. We know the fluctuation of the dollar. We know brand reputation. Those things we’ve been through before. So we are cautiously optimistic, but those are things that we’re watching very closely.

Billie: As you said earlier, there’s a lot going on big in New York. World Cup, the 400th anniversary, and of course America 250. Can you tell us a couple of exciting events or experiences that you’re planning, whether related to America 250 or any of these other big celebrations that are coming?

Julie: As we always do, we always do things big and, and we always do things authentic. And so what we did is we looked at the 250th anniversary, which is in 2026. But this year in 2025, New York City is 400 years old. So we started with that storytelling and we’re going to have an event on September 7th. It’s going to be free to the public, it’s going to lean into Broadway, which was founded only in New York City. And it really starts in our mind, it really kicks off the 250th anniversary of America, because we are 400 years old.

And then we’ll roll into 2026. Obviously we are honored and delighted to host eight matches for FIFA World Cup. And then of course the exciting finals will be in the New York, New Jersey stadium. So we’re excited about that. We’re partnering very closely with our state partners as well in New Jersey to make sure that there is fan activation.

We’re looking to do that in all five boroughs. There will be events for those with or without tickets. That’s what’s extremely important to us. We want to make sure that there’s something for everyone. And so if you don’t happen to have a ticket for a World Cup, still come over and be part of the excitement.

In addition to that, over the 4th of July, there’s going to be Sail Forth 250, which will be over 30 plus tall ship vessels that will only be seen at one time in New York City.

Billie: Wow.

Julie: And so we’re really excited about that. They will go tour some of our neighbors up to Boston and down to Norfolk, but to see all 30 of the vessels that you would need to come visit New York City.

Billie: Excellent. I can’t wait for all of it. So exciting. Julie, thank you so much. So lovely to have you here.

Julie: Thank you so much.

Billie: Thanks for joining us for this episode of View From Afar. In the show notes, you’ll find links to everything we discussed today, as well as NYC’s tourism website and social media handles and our recent coverage of the city. And be sure to follow along this week to hear more interviews with industry experts.

You can find more Views From Afar on afar.com. And be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok. We’re @AfarMedia. If you enjoyed today’s exploration, I hope you’ll come back for more great interviews. Subscribing always makes that easy. And be sure to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast platforms. It helps other travelers find it.

This has been View From Afar, a production of Afar Media. The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound. This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to their other fine shows like Culture Kids and The Explorers Podcast.