While visiting New York City in January may seem like a strange idea of fun, we booked an extended weekend to be here for the popular New York Travel & Adventure Show. It was also a great excuse to come to this wonderful city to enjoy some great food and take in a Broadway show.
The New York Travel & Adventure Show has been on for 20 years and is quite famous. We wondered why it was held in January and came to the conclusion that those stuck in the frigid January cold are probably more likely to jump on the specials to all those warm and sunny destinations being exhibited. Well, whatever the reason, there are always great specials, prizes, and giveaways. Above all, we thought we would get some good trip ideas.
We had attended the show a few years back and visited the Croatia booth which led us to organize our own road trip in Croatia. The country is beautiful with breathtaking scenery, interesting attractions and delicious food. This year we were also looking for scuba destinations and who knows what would catch our eye. We attended with an open mind.
We flew into LaGuardia which is the closest airport to the Manhattan area. We stayed at the Westin in Times Square which was perfect for sightseeing and only a few blocks from the Javits Center where the show was being hosted. We could not help but think that during the pandemic this whole center was turned into a field hospital for covid patients. Hard to imagine and so sad. Remember when they said NYC would never recover? Well, New Yorkers are resilient and from the looks of the show and the hustle and bustle of the city NYC is doing very well, thank you!
We planned our arrival for the Friday afternoon to have time for our favorite John’s of Time Squares pizzeria. This well-known pizza joint is set inside an old cathedral complete with stained-glass windows and a cupola ceiling. Mmm.
We were also hopeful to get in a Broadway show if we could swing last-minute tickets. We got lucky and got to see Six. Fabulous!
Day 1
The Javits Convention Center is huge and after registration we made our way onto the show floor to start exploring.
First things first. One great thing we remembered about the NY Travel & Adventure Show was the multitude of companies giving away trips and goodies.
The giveaways are listed in the agenda, and we saw a free week to Croatia, even a free safari, wow! Odds are slim but if you don’t enter you don’t win for sure.
Of course, last time we laughed when we both got separate calls to be named a lucky winner of a discounted safari (which ended up being a deal but far from something to jump on, so we planned our own).
Many of these travel deals are really ‘at the show only’ promos so if you’re ready to book it can work well. But in our case, we like to mull things over for comparisons sake before we buy. But free is free so we made our rounds scanning QR codes and dropping off business cards in the various draws to try our luck.
The show was packed. Everyone wants to get back to travel but it was also going on at the same time as a dog show and a boat show at the Javits Center. This year it was all the way at the end and in a smaller venue than we remember.
There is so much information online now and the specials at the show seemed few and far between and limited in scope despite the promises on the web. We saw specials such as saving $200 or $300 if you book at the show. This is rarely our style as we are likely to get our plane tickets first and plan our trip in consequence, so this was of little value to us.
Even the big seminars with keynote speakers were disappointing rehashing many of the same points we’ve heard over and over. Best line we heard at one of the show’s seminars in reference to a tag line for a major airline in the US: “We’re not happy until you’re not happy!”.
We visited the Croatia booths and found out more about other parts of the country which may be interesting for us to do in the future.
Another highlight was a Philippines-based resort catering to divers. We spent some time with the representative looking at beautiful underwater pictures. As with many such resorts it’s the getting there that can be challenging. However, looking at the pictures made it seem like it would be worthwhile.
We also met a representative from the Aggressor liveaboards. We discussed some of the itineraries including the Jardines del Rey in Cuba which is supposed to be pristine and full of life.
There was also an interesting South Korean Tae-Kwon-do based tour showing the history of the martial arts.
We even met one tour company from the UK that organized castle hopping adventures in Ireland and Scotland, England and Wales. Interesting!
We also talked to some ladies about Sicily and learned about a pistachio-based pesto which sounded delicious. Maybe something we will try to make at home.
Notably absent was any representation from many of the other European venues such as Spain, Portugal, France, etc.
Leaving the travel show, we felt like it was perhaps two-thirds if not half the size of the pre-pandemic years. We got a few ideas but left much of the aisle-by-aisle browsing for day 2.
Day 2
On the last day, we were intent on walking the aisles and seeing all the booths that could be interesting for planning future trips. The show opened at 11 am instead of 10 am. So, to pass the time we went to look at safari cameras at NYC’s famous B+H Photo Store which is close to the Javits Center.
Heading into the trade show we were immediately stricken by how much less busy it was than on the first day. Instead of attending various seminars we walked around the floor and got some great ideas for planning our future travels. Most were scuba related:
- Watakobi Dive Resort in Indonesia, a haven for macro life with pristine seas. It’s so remote that to get there we need to fly into Bali, then take a small local flight and then a boat ride to the heart of the Coral Triangle. Not easy to get too, and expensive, but the diving would surely be amazing!
- Sint Eustatius, a tiny Dutch island in the Caribbeans. Much closer to us from Miami but we would still need to take a 15-minute flight or take a ferry from Sint Maarten. The Golden Rock Dive and Nature Resort looked very inviting.
- The Philippines booth also caught out attention being another coveted dive destination. It takes some effort to get there from Miami. First, we would need to fly into Manila, then head out to Raja Ampat, Cebu, Puerto Galera or one of the other numerous islands in the Philippines and then take a boat. The Marco Vincent Dive Resort in Puerto Galera offered an interesting dive package worth considering.
- Okinawa in subtropical Japan is also renowned for excellent scuba diving and there’s also some great topside activities. We have great memories of our trip to Japan and wouldn’t mind revisiting.
- Croatia for another road trip to explore more of the country because we truly enjoyed our first road trip along the Dalmatian Coast.
- Sicily because the scenery is spectacular, and we would love to see more of this part of Italy.
Conclusion
As usual, we got some fresh ideas for travel, and we were happy to attend the 2023 New York Travel and Adventure Show.
In addition, we managed to catch a show on Broadway, enjoy delicious food, and shop at our favorite camera store B&H. And yes, we even bought a camera for our upcoming safari and the service was excellent as always.
It’s always fun to have an excuse to go to New York City and revisit some of our favorite places.
