紐約市旅遊業破紀錄 中國遊客激增

Mayor Bill de Blasio may have diverged from his predecessor’s path several times in his first year in office, but when it comes to tourists, he has embraced Michael R. Bloomberg’s rallying cry: Keep them coming.

執政第一年中，紐約市長比爾·白思豪(Bill de Blasio)或許曾數次偏離前任的道路，但在遊客問題上，他卻積極採納了邁克爾·R·布隆伯格(Michael R. Bloomberg)的口號：讓他們來吧。

Mr. de Blasio increased the city’s spending on tourism promotion in 2014 and is considering doing so again this year, said Alicia Glen, a deputy mayor. City officials are expected to announce on Monday that the official count of visitors to the city last year was 56.4 million, up from the previous peak of 54.3 million in 2013.

副市長艾麗西亞·格倫(Alicia Glen)說，2014年，白思豪增加了紐約在旅遊宣傳方面的支出，而且還在考慮今年也這樣做。市政官員預計將於週一宣佈，去年紐約市遊客人數的官方統計數據爲5640萬，超過了2013年5430萬的峯值。

The influx of tourists has been growing steadily since the recession ended, consistently surpassing the goals set by city officials. The impact of tourism on the city’s economy has been increasing too, but not as fast as projected.

自經濟衰退結束以來，遊客人數一直在穩步增加，最後超過了市政官員設定的目標。旅遊業對紐約經濟的影響也在不斷加強，但速度不及預期。

NYC & Company, the city’s tourism promotion agency, estimated that tourism spurred $61.3 billion in economic activity last year, far from the pace needed to reach its goal of $70 billion annually in 2015. Much of the discrepancy can be explained by shifts in the global economy, said Fred Dixon, the chief executive of NYC & Company.

據紐約市旅遊宣傳機構NYC & Company公司預計，去年旅遊業共帶動了613億美元（約合3834億元人民幣）的經濟活動，離達到2015年700億美元的年度目標所需的速度還差很遠。NYC & Company的首席執行官弗雷德·迪克森(Fred Dixon)說，國際經濟情況的變化可以解釋這種出入的大部分原因。

A weak American dollar had drawn hordes of shoppers from Brazil and other countries where tariffs make goods more expensive. Brazilians, who make up the third-largest contingent of foreign tourists, had developed a reputation for filling suitcases with purchases of clothing and everyday items.

美元的貶值吸引了來自巴西和其他國家的大批購物者，因爲關稅原因，商品在那些國家比較昂貴。作爲第三大外國遊客羣體的巴西人，因爲用買來的衣服和日用品把行李箱塞得滿滿當當而出了名。

Now, with the dollar’s rebound diluting some of the buying power of foreign currencies, city officials are banking on drawing more visitors from less-tapped sources, especially China.

如今，隨着美元反彈，一些外幣的購買力也隨之降低。市政官員就指望着，能從此前開發較少的地方吸引更多遊客，尤其是中國。

City officials estimate that more than 740,000 visitors came from China in 2014, almost five times as many as in 2009. China passed France last year to move into fourth place as a source of foreign tourists, behind Britain, Canada and Brazil, tourism officials said.

市政官員估算，2014年共有逾74萬名遊客來自中國，幾乎是2009年的五倍。主管旅遊業的官員稱，去年，中國超過法國，在外國遊客來源地中排名第四，僅次於英國、加拿大和巴西。

Already, the Chinese are the largest contingent of foreign visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said Emily Rafferty, president of the museum and chairwoman of NYC & Company’s board of directors. “They’re definitely the No. 1 visitors to us and we predict it’s growing,” she said.

紐約大都會藝術博物館(Metropolitan Museum of Art)主席兼NYC & Company董事會主席埃米莉·拉弗蒂(Emily Rafferty)說，中國人已經是參觀博物館的外國遊客中最大的一支隊伍。她說，“他們絕對是我們這裏排在首位的訪客羣體，而且我們預計人數還會增加。”

A recent rule change that will extend visas for citizens of China to 10 years from just one should fuel a continued surge of tourism, Mr. Dixon said.

最近的一個規則改變——把中國公民的簽證有效期從1年延長到10年——應該會繼續推動旅遊的迅速發展，迪克森說。

So far, Mr. Dixon said, the bulk of the Chinese visitors have come in groups that sweep through New York and a few other American cities in rapid succession. But a new group of wealthier Chinese tourists, who spend considerably more on luxuries, is emerging, he said.

迪克森表示，目前大部分中國遊客是以團體形式出現，接連不斷地涌入紐約和其他幾座美國城市。但他說，一個更富裕的新羣體正在出現，這些中國遊客與那些團體遊客相比，會在奢侈品上多花很多錢。

The Chinese tourism target of the future “is going to be the higher-spending, longer-staying, upper-middle-class and luxury market,” Mr. Dixon said. In contrast to Brazilian visitors, he said, the Chinese tend to shop for more expensive items, like watches, to take home as gifts.

關於中國遊客的未來目標“將是支出更多、停留時間更長，趨於中上層階層和奢侈品市場”，迪克森說。他說，與巴西遊客相比，中國人更傾向於購買手錶等更昂貴的物品，帶回家當禮物。

Ms. Glen said that diversifying the sources of tourism as a hedge against economic slumps in particular countries or regions is one aim of the de Blasio administration. “We don’t want to be too reliant on any specific place,” she said.

格倫說，實現遊客來源國的多樣化，以預防某些國家或地區的經濟衰退所帶來的衝擊，是白思豪政府的目標之一。她說，“我們不想過度依賴任何特定的地方。”

NYC & Company is nearing the end of a five-year contract with the city, which supplies about one-third of its funding. The rest comes from the hotels, museums, restaurants and other businesses that make up its membership.

NYC & Company與紐約市爲期五年的合約即將到期，公司三分之一的資金都來自政府。其餘部分則來自酒店、博物館、餐廳，以及作爲其成員的其他企業。

Ms. Glen said the city gave NYC & Company an additional $1 million last year, on top of its base allocation of about $12 million. She said city officials were still discussing how much additional money to give the agency in the coming year.

格倫表示，除了大約1200萬美元的基礎資金以外，紐約市去年又爲NYC & Company額外提供了100萬美元。她說市政官員仍然在討論未來一年要額外給該機構提供多少資金。

To enhance New York’s all-American allure, NYC & Company selected Taylor Swift, the music star, as the city’s unofficial — and unpaid — ambassador last fall, a choice that went over as well with some New Yorkers as Mr. de Blasio’s use of a knife and fork to eat pizza.

爲了提升紐約作爲典型美國城市的吸引力，去年秋季，NYC & Company選擇音樂明星泰勒·斯威夫特(Taylor Swift)作爲紐約市的非正式——和無償的——大使，而這個選擇的受歡迎程度大概與白思豪用刀叉吃披薩的舉動差不多。

“The thinking behind choosing Taylor was igniting a new conversation,” Mr. Dixon said.

迪克森稱，“選擇斯威夫特背後的邏輯引發了新的討論。”

He added, “She ignited a lot of conversation.”

他補充道，“她引起了大量討論。”

Plus, he said, Ms. Swift, who moved to the city last year, performed her new song “Welcome to New York” on national television from Times Square on New Year’s Eve. The dividends from having “the biggest pop star of the moment” do that will be rolling — and flying — in for years to come, he said.

他說，此外，去年搬到紐約的斯威夫特元旦前夕曾在時報廣場演唱她的新歌《紐約歡迎你》(Welcome to New York)，其表演在全國性電視臺上播出。他說，讓“當前最著名的流行明星”來擔任大使，將會在未來數年內帶來大量好處。