ABSTRACT
According to legend, the “inspiration” for I¤NY came at a luncheon in the Union Carbide headquarters in Midtown Manhattan in 1977, during which the company announced plans to move to Danbury, Connecticut. In attendance was John Doyle, the new deputy commissioner for the New York State Department of Commerce (DOC), who was struck by the explanation the company gave for the move: “They said they were leaving New York because they could not get anyone to visit, let alone work here.” It was then that Doyle had his epiphany: “If tourists want to visit [New York City], you can get middle managers who want to live there.”2 By focusing on tourism marketing, in other words, he could also enhance New York’s image as a place to work and make a profit. Doyle abruptly called a halt to all tourism spending and used the money to finance the state’s first professional market research instead. This, he hoped, would “prove” to the legislature that the state had failed to realize some $16 billion in revenue between 1967 and
1976, by his estimate, due to the fact that “vacationers and businesspeople alike” were deterred from New York City because of negative perceptions.3
