New York City and American Airlines today joined Chicago tourism officials to announce their first-ever collaborative effort to bolster tourism and promote travel between New York City and Chicago in 2011. This city-to-city partnership comes as NYC & Company continues its national Live More Tour, designed to give travel incentives to visitors through exclusive flight deals and consumer offers in the two destinations.  NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta; Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau Executive Vice President Mark Theis; Chicago Office of Tourism Director Dorothy Coyle and American Airlines Vice President of Passenger Sales–Central Division Thomas Aichele made the announcement at Millennium Park in Chicago.

“The visitor industry drives a key component of Chicago’s economy, bringing in more than $10 billion in spending each year and helping to sustain restaurants, hotels and local businesses.  We would not be the vibrant city we are today without the visitor industry,” said Mark Theis, Executive Vice President and CEO of the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau.  “This is an important effort to reinvigorate travel, and we are proud to join forces with a great American airline and another world-class American city.  I encourage New Yorkers to shop our Magnificent Mile, experience Broadway in Chicago and indulge in a slice of authentic Chicago pizza.  Thanks to this partnership, there’s no better time to book a flight.”

“Chicago and NYC are both outstanding year-round destinations, full of great events and activities that take place both indoors and out. We are very excited to be partnering with NYC & Company and American Airlines to encourage travel between our cities,” said Dorothy Coyle, Director of the Chicago Office of Tourism.

To promote travel between New York City and Chicago, American Airlines today unveiled a special limited-time reciprocal airfare deal of $89 each way. Reservations must be made and tickets must be purchased by October 22, 2010.  Valid for round-trip travel to O’Hare airport and to the three primary New York City airports (JFK, LGA, EWR).  The valid travel period will be January 5, 2011 to February 25, 2011 with embargoes from January 15-17 and February 18-21, 2011.

The Live More Tour—targeting travel between New York City and the metropolitan areas of Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles—comes on the heels of the Obama Administration’s appointment last month of NYC & Company’s CEO George Fertitta to the 11-member Corporation for Travel Promotion. The board is tasked with administering the successful launch of the Travel Promotion Act, which will put in place a new public-private matching-funds program featuring up to $100 million in private-sector contributions and, potentially, $200 million overall to promote the United States. The landmark legislation is expected to generate approximately $4 billion in new visitor spending and create 40,000 new jobs annually.

Last year New York City welcomed approximately 555,000 Chicagoans while approximately 872,000 New Yorkers visited the Chicago area.  More than 4.4 million total passengers traveled between Chicago and New York City, with 37 percent flying on American Airlines. There are more than 50,500 flights per year between Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports and the three major airports that serve New York City; American Airlines represent 30 percent of flights to O’Hare.

In 2009, Chicago welcomed 39.6 million visitors representing $10.2 billion in spending and 125,000 jobs.

In the months ahead, the City of Chicago encourages visitors to take advantage of the many, world-class events taking place across the city including skating on the world’s highest ice rink at the John Hancock Center (January 1–March 31); Chicago Boat Show (January 12–16); Snow Days Festival (January 28–30); Chicago Winter Dance in Millennium Park (February 5–27); Chicago Auto Show (February 11–20); Chicago Restaurant Week (February 18–27) and museum free-admission days. These events, combined with the lowest rates of the year at hotels. make for a fun, affordable trip.

For more information on booking travel to New York City, visit nycgo.com. For more information on travel to Chicago, visit explorechicago.org and readysetchicago.com.