Most overrated and underrated country in Latin America

[AntonioR]

Originally Posted by sf_arkitect

I don't get the sense Latin America is the first destination the tourists from Europe, Anglo North America, and Asia think of when planning a vacation.

Latin American cities are generally seen as being of a "secondary" or even "tertiary" tier of interesting places to see, unfortunately.

If they are planning a culture vacation, then yes Europe comes first to many Americans. Generally, Latin American cities are "secondary or even tertiary" places, but there are urban gems such as Mexico City or Buenos Aires that are often looked down upon by Americans. Blame it on a history that is based in part on an anti-Spanish attitude (notice that the border with Spanish-speaking Mexico is not as straight as the border with English-speaking Canada, that didn't happen at random). Even when it comes to Europe, Americans are much more likely to focus on cities like London, Paris, Rome before and if ever they look into Barcelona or Madrid, and forget about Lisbon. Much of Spain is virtually unknown to Americans. More people know about France's Cote d'Azur or Italy's Amalfi Coast than Spain's Costa del Sol.

However, when Americans are looking for a beach vacation outside the US, places like Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and Punta Cana are well known to them or at least have an expectation based on what they heard of these places. Last I checked, these are in Latin America. Once Cuba becomes an American friendly destination again, Varadero will probably make it to that list.

When it comes to Europeans looking for a beach vacation, destinations such as Costa del Sol or the Canary Islands are very popular (in fact, Spain is like the Florida of Europe in that regard). However, outside Europe they certainly look for options in the Americas and there is a reason why places like Punta Cana or Varadero attracts so many Europeans.

A person might travel to Santo Domingo to see the colonial sites and while there might visit other places in the city, but no one is going to travel to Santo Domingo specifically to see the Palace of Fine Arts or the Columbus Lighthouse or the obelisk by the sea or other points of interests. Sure, once you're there a person might as well check those sites since they are there and you are there, but that's not what attracts people to the city in the first place. The same applies to most cities in Latin America.