Expo to promote tourism in Queens

If the borough of Queens tops the list of the most diverse places in the United States and the world, then Queens should also top the list for the most visited tourist destinations but it does not.
To promote the borough, travel agencies and tour operators from all over the United States have been invited to the first annual Queens Travel Expo, not just to promote their services but also to learn firsthand the secret behind why the people of Queens are the happiest people in New York City.
The Queens Travel Expo will take place on April 3 and 4 at the Marriott New York LaGuardia Airport. The Expo will be preceded on April 2, by a Queens Familiarization Tour co-hosted by Borough President Helen Marshall and the Queens Economic Development Corporation with a party aboard a yacht on April 1 at the marina in Flushing.
One of the challenges that Angela Gozzi, president of AG Media Corp. and founder of the Expo, would like to tackle is getting the tour operators to think of Queens as a tourist destination in New York City.
“The assumption by many tour operators is that they are going to be taking the tourists to Manhattan,” said Gozzi. “We want to educate them to keep the tourists in Queens.”
For this reason, the familiarization tour will take the travel agents and tour operators to famous and historic attractions like the Queens Museum of Art, the NY Hall of Science and Citi Field.
“As part of the Expo, I am very happy that my office was able to arrange a Familiarization Tour for the exhibitors,” said Marshall in a statement at the announcement of the Queens Expo. “Like I say, visit Queens, see the world!”
The 1st Annual Queens Travel Expo and Queens Familiarization Tour will be held April 3 and 4, 2009 at the New York LaGuardia Marriott Hotel located at 102-05 Ditmars Boulevard, East Elmhurst, Queens.
For more information please call 718-897-3905 or visit www.queenstravelexpo.com.