Why Big Apple bargains got small

SMALL PRINT:IRISH SHOPPERS SEEKING bargains in the Big Apple this winter may not get the bargains they've become accustomed to, as a 4 per cent sales tax on clothes and footwear has been reinstated.

Clothing and footwear items costing less than $110 (€79) had been exempt from the sales tax since 2007, making New York one of the few states in the US to offer tax-free shopping on these purchases. From October 1st, the exemption on sales tax has been lifted, one of many cost-saving measures being imposed by New York state government to plug a budget deficit.

According to NYC Company, the city’s official tourism bureau, Irish travellers ranked 13th in terms of foreign visitors last year. The collective value of the Irish market in New York City is $400 million (€286 million). Ireland continues to be an important and lucrative visitor segment. More than 268,000 Irish people visited New York in 2009, down from 353,000 visitors in 2008.

Although significant, this tax may not dent Irish shopping interest in the Big Apple. Tiffany Townsend, a spokeswoman for the city’s tourism bureau, said “We have no evidence to suggest the tax will have any effect and believe that people will continue to come to New York regardless of the reinstated tax.”

In 2004, near the height of the Celtic Tiger, visitor numbers to New York from Ireland jumped to 183,000 from 75,000 in 2003, and grew steadily until a 24 per cent contraction hit the Irish market in 2009.

Despite a total of more than 45 million travellers visiting New York in 2009, the spending power of the average Irish visitor to New York does not go unnoticed by the city’s tourism chiefs. NYC Company reports that the average Irish visitor spends more than $2,000 (€1,432) on their trip, stays one week and comes to the city with family and friends. More than 91 per cent of surveyed Irish visitors in 2009 listed shopping as their number one activity, followed by dining out and sightseeing.