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Bloomberg Thanks Hotel Staff for Taking Care of Tourists on Christmas

By Sonja Sharp | December 25, 2011 1:46pm

MIDTOWN — Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid a Christmas morning visit to hospitality workers at a Times Square Hotel Sunday, celebrating their holiday service while touting the city's booming tourism industry. 

"Big cities change all the time," a festively-dressed Bloomberg told reporters at the event at the Mariott's Renaissance Times Square New York. "The tax base changes, the industries come and go. What cities have to do is find new industries to keep people employed. Tourism is one of those industries."

Making New York City a magnet for tourist dollars has been a cornerstone of Bloomberg's tenure. On Tuesday, he welcomed the symbolic "50 millionth visitor", feting newlyweds Craig Johnson and Lucy Foulger of England in Times Square.  

The mayor thanked hotel workers for helping to welcome the throngs of visitors who passed through the city this year, including the hundreds already wandering through Times Square Christmas morning. 

"We're very lucky to be here—we welcome people from all over the world," said Renaissance hotel staffer Helen Yin, 54, of Queens. "We feel like we're ambassadors for the city."

It helps that many of the hotel workers are themselves newcomers, Bloomberg said. A very informal poll of the Renaissance's staff uncovered a smattering of foriegn languages, from Spanish to Cantonese, all of which the mayor said makes the city more accessible to visitors from abroad, he said.

"The fact that you come from somewhere else is an advantage," Bloomberg said.

Yin, an immigrant from Canada, said that she and her husband were both spending Christmas at work in different Midtown hotels. 

"We're very happy to be here and to make our guests happy and to make New York look awesome," she said. 

New York attracted a record-breaking 50.2 million tourists in 2011, up from 48.7 million in 2010, when it surpassed Orlando as the number one tourist destination in the country. The city beat its own goal of 50 million annual visitors by 2012, Bloomberg announced Tuesday. 

But the hotel staff weren't resting on their laurels just yet. 

"Who's going to be here for New Years Eve?" The mayor asked.

"Everybody!" came the merry reply.