Mayor visits New York to promote London as leading destination for business, tourism and sport
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is heading to New York this week for a series of meetings and events with global leaders to bang the drum for London as a place to invest, hold sporting events and promote the capital as an unrivalled destination for tourists.
Sadiq’s visit takes place during the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, where business leaders, politicians and major organisations converge on New York to discuss global issues including delivering economic prosperity and tackling climate change.
During his visit Sadiq will promote London as an exceptional place to work and invest in, including meetings with Accordion, CLA Global, Salesforce and Thoropass. He will also use meetings to promote London as an unparalleled destination for sporting events and tourism.
The Mayor will speak at a number of high-profile events, including the Concordia Annual Summit, a global affairs forum that works to address the world's most pressing needs, the Climate Pledge Summit and the NYC Climate Week Hub.
London faces stiff competition but is still the leading location globally for US businesses looking to expand overseas. Last year saw New York invest $1.7 billion into London climate start-ups and climate focused companies, with the capital the top city for foreign direct investment from the United States over the last 10 years, when compared to all other cities globally.
Around 3.5 million visits were made between the US and London in 2023, surpassing pre-Pandemic levels by 12 per cent. This week’s visit to the US follows the Mayor’s announcement last week that he plans to transform oxford street into a traffic-free pedestrianised avenue, encouraging even more tourists to come to central London, restoring the street as the leading retails destination in the world.
While in New York the Mayor will also meet with senior sporting officials as he fulfils his pledge to explore bringing more sports from North America and around the world to our city. London, under Sadiq’s mayoralty has great pedigree in hosting the biggest international sporting events from around the globe – and Sadiq is determined to cement our city’s reputation as the undisputed sports capital of the world.
This capital has had a fantastic summer of music and sport, with Taylor Swift performing The Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium more times than any other city in the world and London hosting Major League Baseball, Diamond League Athletics, the Champions League Final and world title heavyweight boxing. In the coming months there are more major events with the 68th BFI London Film Festival, three NFL games and the League of Legends grand final at the O2 Arena, while next summer the capital will host the final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Sadiq will also remind global leaders that now is the time to take firm action to tackle climate change. He will speak at New York Climate Week and at the Climate Pledge Summit emphasising how cities are at the forefront of climate action, with over half of the world's population living in them and consuming 75per cent of global energy. The Mayor will highlight London’s bold initiatives and plans for the future including his commitment to make London rivers swimmable in ten years.
Sadiq is in New York in his capacity as Mayor of London and also Chair of C40 Cities - a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world's leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis, and will call on leaders to follow London’s example, turning our current global challenges into opportunities for transformative climate action.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am looking forward to visiting New York to bang the drum for London as the perfect location for global businesses to expand, invest and to hold sporting events.
“With so many key business leaders and politicians in New York this week, this really is the perfect time to promote London on the global stage – whether as an exciting tourist destination or the host of the world’s best sporting events.
“It is also an important week for global leaders to restate their commitment to tackle climate change, to learn from other cities and nations and showcase how London remains at the forefront of global action.”
While in New York, Sadiq will also speak at the UN’s SDG Lounge event - hosted by the UN Office for Partnerships - on the need to accelerate climate action and give the keynote address at a Clinton Global Initiative opening the session on “Leveraging Technology and Nature for Equitable Urban Resilience”.
C40 Executive Director, Mark Watts, said: "This UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week come at a pivotal time, amidst an upcoming election in the USA and following the general election here in the UK. The world will be watching to see how global leaders are addressing—or, in many cases, delaying action on the climate crisis. That is why Mayor Khan’s role this week, representing both London and C40 Cities, is so crucial. His unwavering dedication to creating healthier and greener cities sets a powerful example for city and national leaders around the globe. His presence here highlights the leading role of mayors in building a sustainable and inclusive future for all."
Janet Coyle, Managing Director of Business Growth, London & Partners, said: “The business ties between London & North America have always been prevalent. From the future of drug discovery with Recursion to a leading cloud provider in CoreWeave, it has already been an impactful year for US expansion to London. New York and London in particular have always enhanced one another’s ecosystem to strengthen not only each other but the collective transatlantic community.”