GANYC's reputation as a leader in New York City tourism is not going by unnoticed. The Industry Relations Committee received an invitation from the U.S. - China Business Training Center, part of the University of California, San Diego's Rady School of Management to meet with a delegation from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The Rady School is one of the top-ranked institutions in the U.S. for higher education and research. This meeting was not the first request to GANYC from foreign countries. Previous similar meetings were held with delegations from Sri Lanka and Singapore. On Friday October 20th, 2017, a one-hour presentation was given by Harvey Paul Davidson based on GANYC's Press Release, which was designed by Amada Anderson, as suggested by Michael Morgenthal. Additional tourism statistical information was obtained from the latest NYC & Company's "New York Travel & Tourism Trend Report" and the two powerpoint presentations were skillfully created by Andrea Coyle. A high level Chinese delegation consisting of 25 members representing all areas of China and an interpreter translated Harvey's presentation. During the hour-long question and answer session that followed, Bob Gelber and Kevin Lawrence, who is a Mandarin speaking guide, ably assisted with helping the interpreter in providing answers to questions about GANYC, and particularly with statistical terminology that was difficult to translate from English into Mandarin. It was a great GANYC team effort and the leader of the delegation, Li Wanmao, Deputy General and Senior Statistician of the Department of Service Statistics stated his appreciation and provided mementos of the meeting to the GANYC team and everyone posed for a group photo.
Thanks to everyone who helped put this together.
[Guest post by Industry Relations Chair Harvey Davidson]