Azira is headed to the NRF Big Show in New York City, so we wanted to see what convention goers do in the Big Apple when they leave the convention floor. We took a look at the top coffee shops, QSRs, convenience stores and more to see which brands are winning with convention attendees.
Azira looked at the top spots Javits Convention Center visitors went to, and here’s what we found:
Where did they come from?
The Javits Center hosts major conventions that attract visitors from all over the country, and even from around the world. Even so, a majority of visitors (60%) come from the greater NYC area, within 25 miles of the convention center. For visitors coming from out-of-state, New Jersey tops the list, and Pennsylvania and Florida round out the top 3:
New Jersey (out-of-state visitors)
Pennysylvania
Florida
Where did they stay?
Convention goers wanted to stay in the very heart of it – Times Square. Roughly a mile from the Javits Center, Times Square is not only a hub for hotels, but also for theaters, shopping, and an overall tourism mecca. Here are the top 3 places convention goers stayed:
TBA Times Square
(Staybridge Suites)
AC Hotel, Times Square
(Marriot)
Four Points by Sheraton,
Midtown
Where did they get their coffee?
When attending a conference in a busy city like NYC, coffee is a necessity. New York offers many options for getting your caffeine fix, but none are quite so ubiquitous as Starbucks or Dunkin’. Each chain boasts hundreds of locations in the city, giving event goers many options for getting coffee from either spot. In fact, conference goers were seen at more than 30 different locations of each chain.
But which was more popular? That’s a toss-up. Starbucks and Dunkin’ are neck & neck, attracting 2.1% vs 2.0% of conference goers respectively. The top locations ranged from a Dunkin’ at a gas station near Javits, to the Starbucks Reserve location in Greenwich Lane.
Where did they get a bite?
When it comes time to grab a bite to eat, Javits conference goers are more likely to go to McDonald’s than any other QSR by a healthy margin. In fact, 3x more conference goers went to McDonald’s vs. the next runner-up, Pret a Manger. And compared to other burger chains, more than 10x more went to McDonald’s vs. Shake Shack or Five Guys. A big part of this is probably because McDonald’s is all over the place in NYC – the city has over 250 locations of the chain.
McDonalds
Pret a Manger
Subway / Chitpole (Tie)
What else did they do?
It’s no secret that New York offers diversions aplenty. Here are a couple other places where convention goers were spotted:
- Conference goers were 3.74 x more likely to enjoy bowling at Lucky Strikes than the average consumer.
- When it comes to convenience stores, Duane Reade and CVS were nearly tied (with 2.3% vs. 2.4% of convention goers visiting, respectively).
Get to know any destination’s or location’s visitors
New York is a popular convention city for good reason – it’s got a lot to offer. With Azira’s data on people and places, you can understand how visitors impact your locations. Want to learn more? Get a demo.