NEW YORK (AP) - Forget the Empire State Building.
Some New York tourists are eager to see the city's other landmarks: Carrie's
stoop, Charlotte's gallery and that restaurant where Samantha threw a martini in
a boyfriend's face.
Fans of "Sex and the City" have long arrived here eager to see the $500
shoes, the Cosmopolitan-drinking fashionistas and the glamorous serial daters
for themselves. Now, with the movie follow-up to the show set to premiere later
this month, a number of them are planning trips so that they can see "Sex and
the City" ... in the city.
"Once we found out there was going to be a movie, we thought what a great
weekend to do a girls' trip to New York City, the weekend of the premiere," said
Amy Walker, a 31-year-old accountant from Minneapolis who says she has watched
the entire series twice on DVD.
Along with three female friends, she's planning to relax at a spa mentioned
on the show, take a "Sex and the City Hotspots" tour and see the movie on its
opening weekend.
"The producers have said that New York City is the fifth lady of the show,"
says Lisa Blythe Perlman, a guide for the hotspots tour. "Eighty percent of the
show was filmed on location."
Perlman and her colleagues bus about 1,000 tourists a week to see Carrie's
stoop, check out her favorite sex-toy shop, sample her signature cocktail and
eat the same cupcakes that they first spotted on the show. The tour company says
it has already seen advance purchases more than double for the May 30 opening
weekend.
"'Sex and the City' has been one of the all-time great commercials for the
city of New York," says George Fertitta, who heads NYC & Company, the city's
tourism office. "There's all of the fabric and the texture and the vibrancy of
New York. ... It shows everything: from a great shopping component to a
nightlife component, to a restaurant component."
Fertitta, who peppers his conversations with journalists with mentions of
the show, said he was surprised on a recent visit to China when he found himself
flooded by questions from local female reporters about the series.
"They look at this as a window into New York City," he said.
With its glossy shoots at parks, restaurants, nightclubs and shops around
the city, the series has been something of an international ambassador for New
York, showing in more than 200 countries around the world, according to HBO.
About one-third of "Sex and the City Hotspots" tour-goers are from outside the
United States, says On Location Tours spokeswoman Cathy Epstein.
The city is looking to capitalize on that interest. NYC & Company is
launching a Web site to help visitors plan a "Sex and the City"-themed visit,
and is organizing sweepstakes for such trips in Australia, Canada, France,
Germany, Britain and around the U.S. On Location Tours is offering an
opening-night package that includes its hotspots tour, the movie, and a cocktail
party.
One company is charging visitors $15,000 and up for a luxurious four-day
trip based on the show. Participants in the Destination on Location tour,
launching the weekend the movie opens, will dine at restaurants frequented by
Carrie and her friends, visit their favorite boutiques with personal stylists
and even have the option to stop for some Botox injections.
Although their visit will be less extravagant, Walker and her three friends
are also planning to walk in the footsteps of Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and
Charlotte.
"There definitely will be some shoe shopping," she said of their upcoming
getaway. "Minneapolis has the Mall of America, but it's nothing like SoHo."
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