Boris Promotes London Tourism in America

statue of liberty
Statue of Liberty (freefoto)

Mayor promotes London as business capital of the world in New York

Latest announcement:

Mayor of London Boris Johnson and New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced a two-year tourism agreement between New York City and London to boost travel between the two cities.

The cities will provide each other with outdoor media advertising space and NYC & Company and Visit London – their respective tourism arms – will share best practices as a way to maximise travel between the two destinations and will assist each other with at least one publicity event in each city.

London is the best city in the world to do business, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson told influential New York companies today. The Mayor had the privilege of ringing both the opening bell at NASDAQ and the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, as he called on high tech and cutting-edge American industries to locate in London, the top global destination for digital innovation.

The Mayor is in New York to champion ‘London’.  In a series of financial services and business meetings today, he encouraged New Yorkers to remember the greatness of the past, and to now prove to the world that both New York and London are as confident as ever of their dominant position in the world.

The Mayor outlined his vision of making London the business capital of the world, by creating a global centre for excellence across a range of sectors including high-tech, medical services and creative industries. He told audiences that embracing digital innovation is important for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic as they prepare for economic recovery, emphasising that London’s digital landscape makes it the top place to be. With events such as the London Olympic and Paralympic Games around the corner there has never been a better time or a greater opportunity for businesses to build and showcase their digital capabilities in London.

The Mayor said: “The New York markets house some of the most impressively dynamic companies in the world and is where they go to take innovation and growth to the next level – the same is true for London. Our capital is at a turning point, with opportunities to use its energy, dynamism and diversity to excel as a world beating global city. Never before has the timing been more right for American companies to locate here.

“We have an extraordinary talent in London to develop high tech and hugely creative industries. I want to build on that reputation to ensure we lead the pack, creating new technologies. In the coming years, London will set the benchmark for successful, sustainable and prosperous large world cities and American companies should have one of the lead roles in this.”

Michael Charlton, Chief Executive of Think London, added, “The UK’s digital economy is worth $93 billion a year, and it is growing fast.  With London already home to a number of digital and social media companies such as Facebook and Google, the city’s status as a global digital hub is expected to grow. London has long been a magnet, and indeed a catalyst, for high growth companies.  In fact there has never been a better time to invest in London; with a deeper and wider talent pool, lower commercial property costs, and the depreciation of sterling against the dollar, the global recession has opened a window of investment opportunity in London now.”

With low cost and fast Internet connection, the capital’s e-commerce reputation continues to expand at great pace. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are expected to significantly boost the momentum of the London digital media market – the first digital games in history. London retail businesses are growing as they embrace the e-infrastructure already in place in the capital. Marks & Spencer saw online sales increase almost 30 per cent during the third quarter of its financial year, despite falling UK sales, and Debenhams Direct, the retailer’s online arm, showed year-to-date visitor numbers and sales up by around 40 per cent.

The Mayor’s Economic Development Strategy, launched earlier this year, aims to build on the capital’s reputation as a world leader in providing high value services, whilst continually improving its competitiveness. Financial services have played an important role in London’s economy and will continue to do so, but the capital needs to promote all of London’s strengths including sectors where London leads globally, such as:

–         Law, with four of the top six international law firms based here

–         Higher education, with more ‘top 100’ universities and more international students than any other city

–         Advertising, design and other creative industries,

–         Management consultancy,

–         Tourism, with more international tourists than any other city in the world

See the Mayor of London site here

31 thoughts on “Boris Promotes London Tourism in America”

  1. Promoting London in your birthplace Boris! who would have ever imagined it? couldn’t be anyone better of course

  2. Boris – doesn’t really sound like you – ghostwritten? However probably not the time or place for rapiier-like wit come to think of it – I hope you at least got some fun afterwards in the land where they think that iced tea is a suitable drink to accompany good food.

  3. Please don’t forget to inform the San Francisco community that we also have a very thriving, hustle and bustle San Francisco community in Soho, London. It has cosy pubs with street-side tables filled with chic citizens chatting to friends over their drinks & watching the world go by, exotic colourful restaurants that you can smell a mile off, adult shops with so many novelties that OAPs can’t make up their minds which ones to buy.

    We also have, in London, Buckingham Palace – fit for a queen, luxurious shops like Fortnum & Mason, Harrods… fit for a queen. For a pleasure stroll, there is Hampstead Heath Park, London – so vast one doesn’t see others for miles, so open yet has so many trees, shrubs and bushes that one can’t see others for miles.

    Please tell the San Francisco community that they are very welcomed here.

  4. Boris, Boris, we have a very catchy slogan for Hampstead Heath park for the London Tourism Board to use: ” Welcome to Hampstead Heath Park London. So vast others can not be seen by one for miles. So secluded one can not be seen by others for miles. So friendly one is likely to bump into a smiling face. So grand it’s fit for a queen.”

  5. Boris dazzles Broadway! He was swamped by Americans dying to shake his hand.

    Very interesting article.

  6. Well done again, Boris! Bet your trip to the U.S.A cost us a fraction of that it would have cost to send that little toad Livingstone to visit communist Chavez in Venezuela, for what gain to Britain? Keep up the good work, we’re depending on you to lead.

  7. Tarquin I love the slogan although it is quite long to remember in its entirety.
    How about
    Welcome to the park at Hampstead Heath
    So vast that no-one can be seen
    With many smiling faces around
    So grand its fit for a Queen

  8. Melissa,

    To be fair, with all those Broadway lights reflecting off his hair, they probably thought he was an available taxi.

    I was crushed when I realized I wasn’t going to be in town for Boris’ triumphal spin through Gotham. And he was at Mini-Mayor’s house? I would have been a mere 7 blocks away!

    But I am glad his trip was so productive. Travel between London and New York is one of my favorite things (good thing too since I do it so often) so anything they can do to promote it is OK with me.

  9. dmnyc

    I am sure that Broadway had never seen anything like it before!

    I am crushed that you have not called on me once on all your visits to the capital! you know where I am so I expect to hear from you before too long.

  10. Melissa,
    You are now TOP of my call list for my next jaunt. My meetings can wait. After all, I see them all the time.

  11. dmnyc

    It would be a massive privilege to meet you. A glass of champagne in the shadow of Big Ben awaits the greatest gal in all Gotham.

  12. Ali, I am always thrilled to be called upon when people visit Gotham. I stand ready to deliver tips and suggestions for making the most out of all five boroughs. Well, possibly not as many tips for Staten Island as the rest but never mind.

    Melissa, Stop! The temptation to get a plane right now is almost too much. Champagne only makes it worse. Hmmmmm. Champagne. If cruise prices continue to plummet, possibly a transatlantic cruise will be my mode of transport next time. Great. Now I am tempting myself.

    But back on topic – I’m glad Boris focused so much attention on digital innovation. Both cities are poised to both benefit greatly from the innovations of today and with all the resources they have in such a relatively concentrated a space – they are also poised to lead the way to the innovations of the future.

    Hopefully the enthusiasm generated by Boris’ trip and the agreement he made with mini-Mayor will push New York into addressing some of the infrastructure issues that need sorting so they don’t hinder the exciting digital developments of the future

  13. Does anyone disagree with the assertion that Boris Johnson would have been too spineless and afraid of making enemies to introduce the Congestion Charge?

  14. All London needs now is some decent hotels that don’t regard their customers as so many wool-encumbered sheep.

  15. Have you seen this week’s Spectator?

    Boris says:
    “Everywhere I go in Manhattan I meet British tourists. ‘Oi, Boris,’ they shout across the street. ‘who let you out, then?’…..

    No one in New York can understand the release of the Lockerbie bomber. Nor can I – if the guy was convicted of murdering 270 people in cold blood, then he should serve his term. I made these points to a newspaper and the following day I heard myself indicated by a passer-by. ‘Hey, it’s that guy Bruno something. he said some great things about the Libya bomber.’

    Speaking to the media in Times Square, I am very proud to be surrounded by loads of cameras. then it turns out they have come for the Belgian winner of the Women’s US Open tennis. A tourist takes my picture and then asks, ‘Who is that guy?’ He’s the Mayor of London, says one of my team. ‘Oh really,’ says the tourist, ‘where is he from?’

Comments are closed.