DMC Spotlight: New York
DMC Spotlight: New York
This Month's Featured DMC Partner
THIS MONTH: New York Destination Management · Manhattan · Year-round
by Karen Shackman - CEO of The Shackman Group
Why New York right now?
New York is on every incentive planner's shortlist — and yet it remains one of the most underdelivered destinations in the industry. The reason is always the same: without genuine local expertise, the city's most extraordinary experiences stay hidden behind the velvet rope, inaccessible to groups who deserve far better than a generic sightseeing bus and a Times Square dinner reservation.
This month we spotlight a program that opens a very different New York — and the destination management expertise that makes it happen properly.
Ready-to-pitch program idea: Manhattan Private Landmarks Tour — The City Beneath the Surface
New York is not a backdrop. It is a story — layered, alive and endlessly complex — and the groups who leave truly changed by it are the ones who were taken inside that story, not simply driven past it.
This is Manhattan as your delegates have never experienced it. Private. Purposeful. Unforgettable.
What makes this program extraordinary:
Access that cannot be bought off the shelf
This is not a tour. It is a series of private moments inside some of the most storied landmarks in the world — spaces your delegates have seen in photographs their entire lives, now experienced without crowds, without barriers, with context and intimacy that transform recognition into genuine awe. Grand Central Terminal at dawn. The reading rooms of the New York Public Library after hours. The observation deck of a landmark skyscraper reserved exclusively for your group.
Stories that make the skyline mean something
Every great city has a surface and a soul. A specialist local guide — not a tour operator, but a genuine historian and storyteller — brings the human stories behind the architecture, the neighbourhoods, the decisions that shaped the most iconic skyline on earth. Your delegates will never look at a photograph of New York the same way again.
Culinary moments woven into the journey
New York's food culture is as much a landmark as its buildings. The program weaves in carefully selected dining experiences — a private lunch inside a neighbourhood institution, a reception in a rooftop setting with the Manhattan grid stretching in every direction — that feel discovered rather than arranged.
A city that rewards the curious
From the cobblestones of the Meatpacking District to the art deco grandeur of Rockefeller Center, every stop on this itinerary has been chosen because it earns its place — not because it appears on every other group's itinerary. This is a program built for people who have been everywhere and still want to be surprised.
Perfect for -
Incentive travel, executive reward programs, culturally curious groups, meetings with high-impact social program extensions
Best seasons: Year-round — spring and autumn for perfect walking weather, winter for the extraordinary energy of the holiday season, summer for rooftop experiences at their finest
Group size -
Intimate executive groups to mid-size incentive programs — fully private arrangements available throughout
The Body and Soul International advantage -
Body and Soul International's DMC partner in New York arranges exclusive after-hours access, private dining experiences and seamlessly coordinated group logistics — transforming one of the world's most iconic cities into a program your delegates will still be talking about twelve months later.
Read about other destinations in Beyond the Brief — our LinkedIn newsletter →
DMC Spotlight: New York has been this month's chosen destination with The Shackman Group. Come back next month to see our next chosen destination.
