Is true. The characters of Sesame Street have been appointed as official NYC ambassadors.

Travelers arriving for summer New York vacations will see muppets including Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster plastered all over online and outdoor advertising, as well as on taxicab ads throughout the City.

This was announced by George Fertitta, the CEO of NYC & Company (New York City’s official tourism and marketing organization), in a bid to promote the City as a family- and kid-friendly travel destination.

Speaking against the lovely backdrop of the recently-reopened Statue of Liberty’s crown, Fertitta said that “We are excited to be celebrating summer 2009 with such enthusiasm and optimism. The energy and vibrancy of New York City was on full display this July 4th weekend, and we are confident that tourism will remain one of our strongest and most reliable industries in 2009 and beyond. On behalf of NYC & Company and all our members and partners, I would personally like to welcome and invite everyone this summer to come see all that the world’s second home has to offer.”

Apparently, all the enthusiasm is because 11.3 million visitors are expected to come and check out the attractions in New York this summer.

The press statement from NYC & Company also mentioned that New York hotels continue to top the national hotel occupancy rates - 83.3% as of the week ending June 27, as opposed to the national average of 65.4%.

The only cities which come anywhere close to NYC in terms of hotel occupancy rates are San Francisco (80.8%), Washington DC (80.6%) and Honolulu/Oahu (76.1%).

Muppets photo by nickstone333 via flickr (creative commons). George Fertitta speech photo credit - Julienne Schaer (courtesy NYC & Company - http://nycgo.com/).

Posted on July 9th, 2009 by Thomas
Filed under: NYC, New York