Marc A. Palladino of New York is a retail marketing industry professional and entrepreneur. In the following article, Marc Palladino discusses how New York City is rebounding post pandemic in the retail industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic shattered the retail market around the world as forced lockdowns and banned travel derailed communities' plans. But Marc A. Palladino says that tourist numbers are rebounding, sparking immense retail recovery in New York City.
Reports reveal that Times Square foot traffic in August 2022 was only down by 5.8% from August 2019. Improving numbers bring tourism almost level with pre-pandemic averages, and experts state it's due to the relaxation of international travel restrictions.
Marc A. Palladino of New York reports that
NYC’s tourism has rebounded, helping to reignite the city’s retail market.
Marc Palladino Reports the Tourist Boost Surprised All
Many would agree with the stats — the tourist numbers are the most shocking statistic within Q3 reports. And this is what is believed to be driving most of New York City's retail recovery.
When the pandemic first struck, Marc A. Palladino reports that tourism levels reached an all-time low. Around the globe, tourism hit close to zero.
Initially, NYC analysts believed it would take five years to bring tourism traffic back to 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels of 67 million tourists yearly. However, 2022 has seen between 55 and 60 million travelers on New York City soil, so the area is essentially 90% there already. And it doesn't appear to be slowing down — Marc A. Palladino says that forecasts estimate a 100% recovery by December of 2023.
Perhaps even more surprisingly, the city has reached these levels without one of the most popular travelers to the city: Asian tourists.
Before the pandemic, tourists from China and other parts of Asia were huge drivers of tourism in New York City. But somehow, the area has almost reached these figures without visitors from these parts of the world reports Marc Palladino of New York.
With that in mind, many consider tourism (and thus, the retail market) to hit all-time highs once China, the world's most populous country, relaxes its travel bans.
The Driving Factors Behind the Rebound
Marc Palladino of New York states two factors drive the retail market — the number of people and how much they spend.
With more New Yorkers in the city than ever before, they didn't lose population during the worldwide pandemic. In fact, the workers are beginning to head into the office more frequently than they were at the start of the year, naturally causing them to spend money.
Employees are spending money inside and around their offices. Even with inflationary pressures and concerns over a national recession, it still seems that people are willing to splash the cash, especially throughout their working days according to Marc A. Palladino.
While it might not be the same in other parts of the country, consumers are, undoubtedly, spending money in New York. Thus, driving the retail market's growth.
A Look to The Near Future
In New York City, the bulk of the expected layoffs will occur in the tech sector but should be slight.
Even though the United States employment average is looking less than ideal, it appears New York City's employment will remain constant or only decrease very slightly.
This is partly due to the strength of the economy in the area according to Marc A. Palladino of New York. With so many huge corporations in the city, being laid off isn't necessarily the end of the world. After all, an engineer or tech-professional at larger companies will naturally find it much easier to slide into a position elsewhere in the event of a layoff.
New York Resilience During Rocky Economic Times
For most New Yorkers, long spans of unemployment are incredibly unlikely states Marc A. Palladino of New York.
While the economy may slow nationally, New York City has the
resilience to withstand it, especially since any recession won't be as challenging as the 2008/2009 stint. There aren't any massive cuts in the finance sector, nor are big banks suffering challenges.
Even with a recession looming on the horizon, experts believe the financial industry will stand its ground. Therefore, if there is a massive loss of jobs, other positions will be filled rapidly.
Overall, Marc A. Palladino says that the continuation of the city's retail recovery is on the way up, as disposable income isn’t too much of a loss for many in the city.