What NYC Tourism Can Teach Us About Enrollment in 2026

At first glance, tourism and enrollment marketing don’t exactly sit next to each other at the dinner table. One is tracking visitor flows, international sentiment, and leisure demand. The other is thinking about who applies, who enrolls, and how to build a strong cohort.

Some of you may not know that Town Hall has a world-class sister agency focused on arts, culture, and entertainment: Situation.

Working alongside them, we’re constantly reminded that the parallels between tourism and enrollment are harder to ignore than you might think.

I found myself looking at the latest New York City Tourism + Conventions projections and thinking: this feels oddly familiar. Domestic growth, international volatility, sentiment playing an outsized role, the list goes on. It felt worth a conversation.

So I sat down with Damian Bazadona, Founder & President of Situation, to explore what tourism trends might teach us about enrollment strategy, and what happens when we look at prospective New York students the way destination marketers look at travelers.

Jordan: Let’s start with the headline: New York City welcomed 64.5 million visitors last year. That’s a pre-COVID number…and then some. And yet, underneath that big number, the story is more nuanced. Domestic travel is climbing, international is softening, and business hasn’t fully rebounded. What do you make of that?

Damian: The headline number is reassuring. Sixty-four million visitors tells you New York’s pull is intact. Sixty-six million on the horizon says momentum is building. But to your point, the composition of that number is the real story. 

So if you’re in culture, hospitality, or higher education, growth can’t just mean “more.” It has to mean “from where” and “why.” The opportunity isn’t volume. It’s strategy aligned to who’s actually moving.

Jordan: Leisure is doing the heavy lifting, but business travel is hovering. And certain international markets — Canada and Mexico especially — are feeling pressure.

I’m thinking of my clients who rely on international students, and for them that’s a major pipeline signal.

Jordan: Through an enrollment lens, two realities collide: (1) Domestic visitation is gaining momentum, and (2) international is dipping before stabilizing.

For universities — especially in New York — that means you can’t bet on a single geography. If Canada softens but Brazil grows, your strategy has to flex accordingly.

Damian: Because a student choosing a school in NYC is making a travel decision first. If New York feels welcoming and alive, enrollment benefits. If sentiment shifts, perception shifts. I guess you could say that tourism and enrollment share the same brand equity.

Jordan: NYC Tourism + Convention’s projections anticipate additional growth in 2026. That’s stability with some fragility.

So to me that means, don’t overspend expecting a boom and don’t retreat assuming decline. Segment aggressively.

Damian: I’d also add: don’t panic. Even with a dip, international visitation still means more than 12 million global visitors. Some markets are growing inside that contraction.

The opportunity isn’t “all domestic” or “all international.” It’s targeted storytelling by market and the same is true for enrollment.

Jordan: Here’s what institutions underestimate: the city itself is part of the funnel.

If New York feels culturally vibrant and globally connected, that supports both tourism and student recruitment. If certain regions feel hesitant about U.S. travel, institutions may need to proactively counter that sentiment.Damian: Macro sentiment affects micro decisions. Fewer Canadian tourists may also mean fewer Canadian applicants, which means relationship-building has to get hyper-local.

All in all, it seems that tourism data tells us who’s arriving at our doorstep. Enrollment strategy decides who feels compelled to unpack.

And right now, the institutions that win won’t be the loudest, they’ll be the most precise.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on all this – schedule a call with us!