NYC Reawakens

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced April 21 plans for the largest-ever $30M marketing campaign to drive tourism to the Big Apple this year.

It's part of the "NYC Reawakens" push from the NYC & Co. destination marketing organization.

The city's tourism sector is far from woke.

De Blasio's press conference showcased just how far the city has to go to get back on its feet.

NYC & Co. anticipates the city will attract 36.4M visitors this year, a far cry from the 66.6M tourists in 2019.

The 2021 estimate is an improvement over the 22.3M visitors who braved the city during pandemic 2020.

NYC won't top its 2019 record-breaking tourism year until 2024 when it hopes 69.3M people will drop by.

The fact that there's a need for a $30M campaign to woo people to visit the greatest city on Earth is a measure of the massive negative impact that COVID-19 has had on the travel sector.

Hats off to WPP for its game-changing commitment, which it unveiled on Earth Day, to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its supply chain.

The pledge by WPP, which is the largest buyer of advertising space, covers emissions generated by its TV, print, radio and online media partners.

CEO Mark Read said since WPP spends more than $60B in media a year, it has an opportunity to make a difference on the environmental front.

"By including emissions from the placement of advertising in our net zero commitment—a first for our industry—we aim to raise the bar for the whole sector," he said.

Reed said WPP is eager to advise clients on how to spread science-based reduction targets across their individual supply chains.

Just joshing… Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who was last seen giving a thumbs up to the Capitol Hill rioters on Jan. 6, has re-emerged on the national stage to cast the sole vote against the Asian-American hate crimes bill.

Hawley "explained" his vote in a tweet, saying the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act would "turn the federal government into the speech police and gives the government sweeping authority to decide what counts as offensive speech and then monitor it."

Nice try, Josh. That phony is probably already shooting presidential campaign spots, claiming he was the only Senator willing to stand up to liberals and their "cancel culture."

Hawley isn't a free speech warrior. He's a rank opportunist with an eye toward wooing Trump supporters in 2024 by out-trumping Ted, Marco and the gang of GOP presidential wannabes.

Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono, who sponsored the bill, said the vote sent "a powerful message of solidarity to the AAPI Community, that the US Senate rejects anti-Asian hate."

Hawley sent a much different message: my political future takes precedence over curbing violence and discrimination against Asian-Americans.