New York Travel and Things to Do Guide

Welcome to Cvent's Meeting and Event Planning Guide to New York City - a city guide for meeting professionals. New York City—the name alone is enough to attract visitors from all over the world. In fact, more than 60 million people from the US and abroad traveled to New York City in 2016, many of them making the trip to attend the hundreds of major events the city hosts annually. With its extensive transportation network, plentiful hotel inventory and top-notch meeting hotels, along with its wealth of other meeting venues both traditional and nontraditional, New York City offers meeting planners a world-class destination with a robust infrastructure that can accommodate events of all sizes. The city's event resources have been growing in number in recent years, and they've been growing more and more diverse. That's fitting, as diversity has always been the key to NYC's allure for visitors—and its stature on the world stage.

Getting to New York City is easy: A hub for both domestic and international travel, the city is served by three airports—John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty International. Together, they offer competitively priced flights to around 130 million passengers a year. Within the city, there's always a way to get around. Public transit, which includes buses, ferries and one of the most extensive subway systems in the world, offers around-the-clock travel to just about every corner of the city's five boroughs—the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.

There are more places to stay in New York City than ever before. The hotel inventory has surpassed 113,500 rooms and keeps growing, with a mix of new construction, state-of-the art renovation of historic spaces, large-scale meeting hotels and hip boutique hotels.

New York City possesses endless opportunities for attendees to get together outside the confines of a typical meeting room. Organizers can infuse conferences with authentic NYC flavor by hosting an event at the Bronx Zoo or the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, just two of the city's natural jewels; impress clients with views of the Manhattan skyline from the famous Rainbow Room atop 30 Rockefeller Center—the perfect backdrop for receptions of up to 300; transport guests back to the gateway of America with an event for up to 1,200 people at the historic Great Hall of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum; or celebrate a favorite local pastime by inviting a group to one of the plush suites at Yankee Stadium.

New York City knows how to do things big—and events are no exception. There are plenty of large-scale New York City venues, along with plenty of smaller options to complement them. Headlining the conventions scene is the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Spanning six city blocks, the Javits Center ranks among the nation's 20 largest convention centers, boasting 840,000 gross square feet of exhibition space and 160,000 gross square feet of meeting space, with 102 meeting rooms in all. Equally impressive are the amenities, which include kitchens with a capacity to provide as many as 10,000 meals at once, Wi-Fi Internet access and plasma television screens for exhibitors. The city's new 7-train subway extension stops right at the Javits Center's doorstep, making it even more convenient for exhibitors and attendees alike. Adding to that, The New York Hilton Midtown, Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, and NYC & Company have joined together to market a Midtown convention complex comprising these two properties. Called NY5000, it offers nearly 5,000 guest rooms, 100 meeting rooms, and a total of 225,000 square feet of meeting space. It also offers three outstanding restaurants and two complete fitness centers.

Other suitable spaces for large events include the famed Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks and host to top musical acts, sporting events and family shows throughout the year. From its 20,000-square-foot arena to its 9,500-square-foot Garden Terrace to its assortment of smaller spaces, the Garden can accommodate just about any kind of event, whether it's a black-tie gala or an intimate awards dinner. Large organizations can also invite guests to the majestic Radio City Music Hall. Its city-block-long marquee, grand art-deco auditorium and shimmering gold curtain—the largest in the world—will set the stage for a night of luxury for up to 5,900 guests.

The finance, insurance, real estate and media industries form the very heart of the city's own economy. Over 50 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in NYC, along with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. These companies draw from the city's network of prestigious post-secondary institutions, including the public City University of New York and such private schools as Columbia University, Cooper Union and New York University.

View the other pages in this guide for more information about event and meeting planning in New York City.