Content area
Full Text
THE ANNUAL UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY fall sessions have always inspired dark humor at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, where managers have told employees, "Unless you're dead, you need to show up for work."
This year's event, which reaches a climax this week when President George W. Bush sails into town, is one of the biggest cash cows for the Millennium and other hotels that cater to the diplomatic community. It's as important as the December holiday crunch.
"It really feeds all the hotels on the East Side of Manhattan, and at premium rates," says John Fox, a director of PKF Consulting. With 192 delegations, more than 100 heads of states and thousands of delegates pouring into Manhattan for the 14-day meeting, hotels sell out, even booking their most expensive suites for the entire period. They do an extraordinary amount of catering and banquet business as a number of high-level confabs and parties take place. Furthermore, hotels that satisfy the demands of these important guests can count on a steady stream of business from visiting diplomats for years to come.
Though the city doesn't track the meeting's...