Go Local Gets New Yorkers to Explore
By Noah C. Zuss

With 12.5 million visitors expected to travel to New York City in 2008, the City is a top travel destination for most of the world. Now NYC.com is hoping to get even disgruntled city residents to enjoy their city by going local and experiencing all the five boroughs have to offer.

Rising gas prices and steadily increasing costs are reducing the number of long trips Americans are taking. Many around the country have foregone that trip to a national park or to see family because the economics are just too prohibitive, and instead have had to settle for more mundane, so-called "staycations" closer to home.

Sean “Diddy” Combs wants New Yorkers to Go Local.

This might be a problem if you live in a locale mostly devoid of discovery and summer fun, but for many New Yorkers it has become an open-ended invitation to enjoy all that the city has to offer.

To take advantage of this trend and provide urbanites with top notch entertainment value is NYC.com, the marketing and tourism department of city government. Offering cultural and entertainment options closer to home, located across all New York's five boroughs is the Go Local campaign, an effort to promote tourism for city residents where they live.

The six-week initiative highlights activities across the five boroughs in order to help and encourage residents to explore NYC at a time of frightening gas prices and increased economic concerns.

The campaign is aimed at getting people from each borough to experience life outside their home turf. So for a Queens resident that could mean a trip to Brooklyn to see the Botanic Garden, or conversely a Brooklynite traveling to Queens to see Flushing-Meadows Park.

For example, an attraction during late July featured a sand castle contest at Rockaway Beach.

The effort lists trip itineraries each week that feature various sights to be seen in each borough. The motto of the campaign is "promoting New York to New Yorkers," and there are some wonderful gems a person that lived their whole life here may even have missed.

"The aim of the campaign is to push visitation in the outer boroughs," spokeswoman Tiffany Townsend said.

The campaign offers fun and interesting day trips, all with in the City limits. They are not all focused around pricey, crowded Manhattan either.

"Our goal is to make New York City accessible and appealing to locals and visitors alike - regardless of their budget, and a major focus is highlighting activities in the outer boroughs since the majority of both locals and visitors alike are more familiar with Manhattan than Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx. There is an abundance of activities across the five boroughs; many costing little to no money, and everyone - from our citizens to the 46 million visitors -should take the opportunity to explore them. Particularly by visiting the outer boroughs and experiencing somewhere new, New Yorkers don't have to go away to really feel as if they are getting away," Townsend said.

Some highlights on the Queens list include: Rockaway Beach, Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, Flushing Meadows Park Jamaica JAMS Festival, The Bachata Roja Legends/Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto: Latino Cultural Festival and many more.

This weekend, the site is featuring a sculpture workshop and free jazz at the Louis Armstrong House Museum.

"As people are traveling less, they should appreciate, especially in New York where you live more," Townsend said. "Millions visit this city every day from around the world; New Yorkers should go out and enjoy different parts of the city."