One of the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy has been New York City's tourism industry. Along with the downturn in airline traffic, the Big Apple's hotels, theaters,
and restaurants are all feeling the pinch of the decline in tourist visits.
Well, help is coming from the West Coast in the form of a delegation of some 200 residents of Portland, Oregon, who are flying to New York on Saturday October 6 for the express purpose of "spending money" and showing their support for New York during this difficult period. Led by Portland's mayor, the group will converge on the city's hotels, restaurants and Broadway shows and "spend as much as they can."
The Portland group is calling its trip the "Flight for Freedom" and they're hoping that other cities follow their example.
Portland itself is a great destination that New Yorkers will find well worth visiting when they're of a mind to travel again. Portland offers tourists the world's finest rose garden, the International Rose Test Garden; the world class Portland Art Museum; the Oregon Zoo; a host of microbreweries; and plenty of restaurants featuring delectable Northwest salmon. For information on visiting Portland, call the Portland, Oregon, Visitors Assocciation at
(800)962-3700. And if you want to express your appreciation for their wonderful gesture of solidarity with New York, e-mail Deborah Wakefield,the Portland Visitor Association's Director of P.R., at
dw@pova.com.