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Old 11-02-2012, 02:38 AM
 
1,092 posts, read 1,504,621 times
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Let me just first say I think Chicago is a underrated tourist city. There's plenty to do here, maybe not as much as some other cities like NY, SF, or LA, but definitely a good amount for a person/family to enjoy depending on the kind of trip you're looking for. The thing is, whenever I ask people to name a city they would like to visit that they haven't been to before, Chicago hardly comes up. I get that the biggest knock on Chicago is probably its winters, justifiably so sometimes, and I also get the fact that it's in the midwest where there really isn't anywhere else to go, unlike the eastern seaboard where if you went to D.C. or Boston you could easily go to Philly or NYC by car or the west where you could go to SF and then easily to LA or Vegas, all of those being major cities/vacation cities. But even with those two things, I don't get why people don't think of Chicago as a tourist city on first thought. I'm not saying I'm right about any of this, but I just want to hear people's opinion about it.
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Old 11-02-2012, 02:50 AM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 103,185,348 times
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There are basically two types of tourist cities: those that have some desireable natural climate or other feature like mountains nearby, or those that were built primarily to be a tourist destination (Orlando, Vegas). Chicago is first and foremost a functional, working city. It wasn't built to be a playground, and notwithstanding the lakefront, doesn't have the kind of climate or natural features that draw lots of attention. That Chicago still manages to get the volume of tourism it does is a testament mostly to the cultural institutions that stem from being a world-class city.
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Old 11-02-2012, 07:22 AM
 
483 posts, read 842,368 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
There are basically two types of tourist cities: those that have some desireable natural climate or other feature like mountains nearby, or those that were built primarily to be a tourist destination (Orlando, Vegas). Chicago is first and foremost a functional, working city. It wasn't built to be a playground, and notwithstanding the lakefront, doesn't have the kind of climate or natural features that draw lots of attention. That Chicago still manages to get the volume of tourism it does is a testament mostly to the cultural institutions that stem from being a world-class city.
So how do you explain New York, Paris, London, Tokyo and most of the rest of the biggest tourist cities in the world that don't fit into either of your classifications?
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Old 11-02-2012, 07:26 AM
 
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The bottom line is, if you aren't from the Midwest there isn't much of a reason to come to Chicago unless you have friends/family here. If I live in Arizona and want a trip to the big city, I'm probably going to NYC. As much as I love Chicago, what we bring to the table for tourism is dwarfed by NYC.
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Old 11-02-2012, 07:54 AM
 
Location: Chicago
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Chicago is one of the most visitied cities in the country, receiving almost as many overnight visitors as New York.
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Old 11-02-2012, 08:03 AM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,923,075 times
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Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider View Post
Chicago is one of the most visitied cities in the country, receiving almost as many overnight visitors as New York.
Yep. Exactly...Chicago is the 3rd most visited place in the US. Ahead of San Diego, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, and Anaheim/Orange County:

List: America's Most-Visited Cities - 3. Chicago, Ill.: 45,580,000 visitors - Forbes.com

Only Orlando and NYC are ahead of Chicago, and Chicago is behind NYC by only 1.5 million visitors. A lot are from the midwest I'd guess, but there's a lot of people who do come here from all over the place. I meet and see them all the time.


There's a lot of cities in the world like this though, depending on where you're from.
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Old 11-02-2012, 08:25 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
Yep. Exactly...Chicago is the 3rd most visited place in the US. Ahead of San Diego, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, and Anaheim/Orange County:

List: America's Most-Visited Cities - 3. Chicago, Ill.: 45,580,000 visitors - Forbes.com

Only Orlando and NYC are ahead of Chicago, and Chicago is behind NYC by only 1.5 million visitors. A lot are from the midwest I'd guess, but there's a lot of people who do come here from all over the place. I meet and see them all the time.


There's a lot of cities in the world like this though, depending on where you're from.
Quote:
Chicago's tourism is 69% regional, coming from Illinois and neighboring states, and the greatest number of its leisure visitors come not for its sophisticated restaurants, shopping and pretty lake views, but rather to visit friends and family.
Lets exclude regional visitors and visitors who come for friends/family. I mean outside of those people is what my original post was referring to.
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Old 11-02-2012, 08:48 AM
 
Location: Wicker Park/East Village area
2,474 posts, read 4,166,049 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jandur View Post
The bottom line is, if you aren't from the Midwest there isn't much of a reason to come to Chicago unless you have friends/family here. If I live in Arizona and want a trip to the big city, I'm probably going to NYC. As much as I love Chicago, what we bring to the table for tourism is dwarfed by NYC.
Yes, but how many time you going to go back to the same vaca spot? I've vacationed in NYC, but that didn't prevent me from vacationing in Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, etc... People go to multiple vaca destinations in a lifetime.
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Old 11-02-2012, 08:49 AM
 
1,210 posts, read 3,062,483 times
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Originally Posted by jwaiter View Post
Yes, but how many time you going to go back to the same vaca spot? I've vacationed in NYC, but that didn't prevent me from vacationing in Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, etc... People go to multiple vaca destinations in a lifetime.

Well yes, but I don't see what difference that makes. If you live in Arizona, and went to NYC last year, what's the appeal to come to Chicago this year? I just don't see it.
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Old 11-02-2012, 08:54 AM
 
Location: Wicker Park/East Village area
2,474 posts, read 4,166,049 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jandur View Post
Well yes, but I don't see what difference that makes. If you live in Arizona, and went to NYC last year, what's the appeal to come to Chicago this year? I just don't see it.
Maybe because I want to go somewhere I didn't go last year?
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