IGLTA Cocktail Party at New York's Novotel Hotel--Just Fabulous!
Tonight Rich & Famous Tours – www.richandfamoustours.com --attended the IGLTA (International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association) cocktail party held at the Novotel in midtown Manhattan. Every gay person in the Greater New York or Northeast tour/travel industry or everybody that hopes to cash in on the lucrative gay & lesbian tourism market were there tonight. The weather was fabulous…warm and summery with a light breeze and low humidity—a good hair day in other words. The party was held on the Novotel’s fabulous outdoor terrace overlooking Times Square—a choice spot for viewing such events as The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ceremonies!
I told many of the people who would listen about the interesting, quirky history of the structure of the Novotel New York City hotel-- originally one of many rather ordinary buildings built during the pre-1929 building boom and planned to be a skyscraper. When the market crashed, the builders slapped the roof on top of the building at the seventh floor, and it became just a typical midtown Manhattan office structure for 60 years, until Novotel purchased the building nearly 20 years ago and at long last added a tower to the original seven floors, creating the hotel as we know it. Ahh New York City: always being reinvented by new generations!
We were there representing Rich & Famous Tours of New York City - www.richandfamoustours.com –just swapping business cards and attempting to tell everyone in the New York City tourism industry that there is a FABULOUS new “celebrity tour” in NYC. Who was there? An assortment of hotel managers and concierges, many travel agents, consultants, event planners, p.r. people, gay media reps and a hodge-podge of both domestic and international travel folk.
Attendees included: IGLTA Executive Director John Tanzella (whose office apparently is in Fort Lauderdale, FL), Richard Yaeger, Dir. Of Sales at CTN (Consortium Tours of North America), Richard Krieger, Managing Director of Prideworld Travel, based here in The Big Apple, Keith Hickman, Director of Ziptogaytravel.com, Keith Hickman, Director of Marketing at Travel Impressions, Robert Aaron, Sales & Marketing Director of Empire Hotel Group in New York City (owners of The Lucerne Hotel, The Belvedere (one of my favorites in NYC), the Travel Inn (a favorite with tour groups and travelers with cars because of its FREE PARKING), and others scattered around New York City.
There were reps. from hotels like Emilio Morales, Reservation Manager of the Hotel Newton on the Upper Westside of Manhattan, and Monica Spencer Ramos, Director of Sales at The Lucerne. There were also many reporters from various gay magazines like Genre and various gay and mainstream newspapers. Ketel vodka was a sponsor so it was an open bar, specializing in cosmos and other drinks mixed with Ketel…delicious!
I told many of the people who would listen about the interesting, quirky history of the structure of the Novotel New York City hotel-- originally one of many rather ordinary buildings built during the pre-1929 building boom and planned to be a skyscraper. When the market crashed, the builders slapped the roof on top of the building at the seventh floor, and it became just a typical midtown Manhattan office structure for 60 years, until Novotel purchased the building nearly 20 years ago and at long last added a tower to the original seven floors, creating the hotel as we know it. Ahh New York City: always being reinvented by new generations!
We were there representing Rich & Famous Tours of New York City - www.richandfamoustours.com –just swapping business cards and attempting to tell everyone in the New York City tourism industry that there is a FABULOUS new “celebrity tour” in NYC. Who was there? An assortment of hotel managers and concierges, many travel agents, consultants, event planners, p.r. people, gay media reps and a hodge-podge of both domestic and international travel folk.
Attendees included: IGLTA Executive Director John Tanzella (whose office apparently is in Fort Lauderdale, FL), Richard Yaeger, Dir. Of Sales at CTN (Consortium Tours of North America), Richard Krieger, Managing Director of Prideworld Travel, based here in The Big Apple, Keith Hickman, Director of Ziptogaytravel.com, Keith Hickman, Director of Marketing at Travel Impressions, Robert Aaron, Sales & Marketing Director of Empire Hotel Group in New York City (owners of The Lucerne Hotel, The Belvedere (one of my favorites in NYC), the Travel Inn (a favorite with tour groups and travelers with cars because of its FREE PARKING), and others scattered around New York City.
There were reps. from hotels like Emilio Morales, Reservation Manager of the Hotel Newton on the Upper Westside of Manhattan, and Monica Spencer Ramos, Director of Sales at The Lucerne. There were also many reporters from various gay magazines like Genre and various gay and mainstream newspapers. Ketel vodka was a sponsor so it was an open bar, specializing in cosmos and other drinks mixed with Ketel…delicious!
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