New York Times 2005 Travel Show Draws a Record 26,000 Visitors; Travel

    Business Editors/Travel Editors
    The New York Times Travel Show

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2005--The New York Times Travel Show, presented by American Express, today announced that a record 26,000 visitors including over 7,000 trade professionals attended its second annual show, held this past weekend in New York at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. At this major consumer exhibition and trade event consumers were able to research, plan and book vacations to all parts of the world.
    Visitors to the show were also treated to non-stop entertainment that included cultural performances by dancers and musicians from Broadway, Aruba, Brazil, Greece and many other lands; ambassador animals from Busch Gardens; Meet & Greet with Sesame Street walk around characters presented by Beaches Resorts; and numerous workshops and seminars with experts that included Arthur Frommer, Rick Steves, Peter Greenberg and Stephanie Abrams.
    "The Travel Show was even bigger and better than our inaugural show," said Jyll Holzman, senior vice president, advertising, The New York Times. "We thank our sponsors who helped us welcome over 500 exhibitors, and thousands of consumers, to a terrific weekend of information and entertainment."
    "American Express is extremely pleased to have joined The New York Times in presenting its second annual Travel Show," said Lynne Biggar, senior vice president and general manager of the American Express Consumer Travel Network. "The quality of the show's entertainment and exhibitors were a tremendous draw for consumers from across the tri-state area who were ready to travel. Many of the consumers who came by our booth booked cruises, tours and international trips on site, and we generated strong leads for future sales as well. It was a great environment for us to showcase our travel-related benefits for American Express Cardmembers."
    Hundreds of exhibitors from around the world, including the U.S. domestic and foreign travel industry, benefited by attending the show in New York City, the nation's largest travel market. The show boasted geographic and industry pavilions. It was presented by American Express and supporting sponsors were Amtrak, The Islands Of The Bahamas, Carnival Cruise Lines, Greek National Tourist Organization and Germany's LTU International Airways. Contributing sponsors included Sandals and Beaches Resorts and Washington, D.C. Convention and Tourism Corporation. TCS Expeditions was a show partner and media partners included WNBC 4, T47 Telemundo, Outside magazine, WQXR Radio, Industry partners included Travel Agent magazine and National Radio Talk Show Host Stephanie Abrams.

    Various exhibitors noted the following:

    Chryssanthos Petsilas, deputy director, Greek National Tourist Organization, said, "The show was very productive. Tour operators were happy and as a sponsor we had a great position and a great pavilion. We will work with the prestigious organization of The New York Times in the future."
    Joel B. Grossman, director, North American Curacao Tourist Board, said, "The show was fantastic. The awareness was great. There was a constant flow of people. Without question we'll be back. You meet people here who are obviously savvy travelers."
    Pam Scott, business director Northwest and Central New Jersey, Carnival Cruise Lines, said, "Awesome. The traffic was great. The interest in cruising in general was incredible. The interest in group travel surpassed our expectations. Carnival is coming back next year with two new ships."
    Richard Drennan, assistant manager, passenger marketing and sales administration, Japan Airlines, said, "Wonderful. We plan to come back next year in threefold to promote Japan even further."
    Ash Tembe, regional sales director, Northeast for Sandals and Beaches Resorts, said, "It was great branding for Sandals and Beaches and we were proud to bring the excitement of Beaches Resorts Caribbean Adventure with Sesame Street to this year's show. There certainly were more people interested in booking and I know we'll be here next year with more presence and ready to close even more sales."
    For details about The New York Times Travel Show, please visit www.nytimes.com/travelshow.
    The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2004 revenues of $3.3 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other newspapers, eight network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and more than 40 Web sites, including NYTimes.com and Boston.com. For the fifth consecutive year, the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's 2005 list of America's Most Admired Companies. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

    This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com and www.nytimes-community.com

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CONTACT: The New York Times Company Pat Eisemann, 212-556-8719 E-mail: eisemp@nytimes.com or The New York Times Company Toby Usnik, 212-556-4425 E-mail: usnikt@nytimes.com

KEYWORD: NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ADVERTISING/MARKETING PUBLISHING TRANSPORTATION TRAVEL TRADESHOW PRODUCT SOURCE: The New York Times Company

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