GANYC Members Offering Virtual Content

In the past month, GANYC has been at the forefront in the US tourism industry in terms of helping our members navigate the temporary online landscape of tourism content. We provided our members with two Professional Development Programs (PDPs) on the process of creating and marketing virtual tours and promotional content. Our internal networking resources have also provided members with ways to learn from each other, and share their own work. And a recent edition of our Virgil newsletter gave links to many NYC cultural institutions-- such as the Met, the Tenement Museum, MoMA and others-- who are offering online experiences now. We encourage members to look into all the institutions providing these experiences.

We are happy to keep spotlighting those in our membership who are still working to create new material.

Here is our updated roundup of member offering such content:

  • Kevin Fitzpatrick is a guide, historian, and award-winning author of several New York-centric books. He is offering regularly-scheduled virtual tours for $15 each of his favorite aspects of NYC's culture and rich literary history. You can look at the Virtual Tour Calendar on his website. He is doing these virtual tours for schools and other private groups for hire.
     
  • Matthew Baker is doing a series of virtual tours/discussions on his YouTube channel. These 5-7 minute videos cover a range of topics, from Hercules Mulligan to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to Winnie the Pooh to the saga of Jackie Onassis and Grand Central Terminal in brilliant depth as always. Matt has a few dozen videos so far, check them out!
     
  • Megan Marod is creating a similar series of videos, on her website: Experience The Big Apple. Megan has helped her followers virtually explore the NYC theater scene, shopping in NYC, the history of Little Italy and the immigrant history of the Lower East Side, One World Observatory, and more! These videos use vibrant backgrounds and slides of historic photos.
     
  • Art & Susan Zuckerman are doing a series of Zoom tours for GANYC members. They will occur weekly: Mondays and Thursdays at 10:00AM. If interested, email for the info.  Each session will be approximately an hour long.  These cover a variety of topics related to New York and its history. Upcoming sessions include Italian-American culture, East Midtown, and Staten Island!
     
  • Jeremy Wilcox was offering 30-minute Zoom tours, allowing viewers to follow him virtually on his walks in real time, with live Q&A afterward. The tours were of Victorian Flatbush, and Prospect Park. Watch them: here.
     
  • Fred Pflantzer‎ is offering virtual Zoom tours of the northern parts of Central Park. His description: "Employing artfully constructed video and photographs to our advantage, see Frederick Olmsted's, Calvert Vaux's, and Jacob Wrey Mould's mystical landscape come to life. The stroll between Huddlestone Arch and Glen Span Arch is one of the most scenic portions of the park. Without leaving your apartment, experience the waterfalls, forest, and abundant birdlife of the North Woods. An expert live narration will bring the experience to life. The tour is interactive, learn as you go."
     
  •  Alessia Nencioni is offering a series of Virtual Walks of New York (both in English and Italian- Piccole Passeggiate Virtuali. New York) to present a different way of learning about New York, with interesting pictures and videos, fun facts, historical details and a comprehensive vocabulary. These are designed as educational tours for children, but are offered to adults as well.
     
  • Manuela Biondi is staying engaged with her Italian customers with a new YouTube channel. Topics she's covered so far include Hudson Yards, the Easter Parade, and the High Line!
     
  • John Semlak plans to offer a weekly virtual tour every Thursday. Tours will usually focus on New York's sports history. More details can be found on his Facebook page.
     
  • Laurène Hamilton is offering a "Multimedia Virtual Tour : A Deep Dive In The Old Days Of New York City" on her website! Her virtual tour is also available in French as well.
     
  • Michael Dillinger is doing videos on Facebook. His first video covers the history of Times Square.
     
  • Patrick Van Rosendaal is offering Dutch-language videos on his YouTube channel.
     
  • For Russian speakers, Slava Shpigel is doing slideshow tours, such as this one of Central Park.
    He is also now offering Zoom tours. Details on his Facebook page.
     
  • Yue Wang is creating videos for Chinese speakers. An example can be found on his YouTube.


Member Mitch Bach also has created a list of tours from NYC and beyond:
Online Tour Experience Directory

Finally, Jonathan Turer hosts a weekly Instagram show called 'Panorama Challenge: Home Edition' on the City Reliquary IG page. It airs live Tuesdays at 8pm EST, and then is posted to their page.