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If we're insisting on looking at the US as a whole then the biggest destination cities should generally be the largest metros: NYC, LA, Chicago, DFW, Houston, DC, etc. More people = more culture = more things to see and do. I get that DFW may not be your jam, but it's ridiculous to think others will not enjoy a visit or find it interesting.
That said, I don't think it makes sense to treat the US as a monolith. There's so much diversity and distinct regions. For an East Coast tour Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC come to mind as typical top destinations. West Coast: SD, LA, SF, Portland, Seattle. Northern Rockies: Spokane/CdA, Bozeman, Jackson, Boise. Central Rockies: SLC, Denver, plus too many resort cities to list. Southwest: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Santa Fe, Albuquerque. You get the idea...
Even within these lists there's a ton of variability, depending on what one values. Even Phoenix is great as a base camp for winter/spring visitors looking to explore the region.
If we're insisting on looking at the US as a whole then the biggest destination cities should generally be the largest metros: NYC, LA, Chicago, DFW, Houston, DC, etc. More people = more culture = more things to see and do. I get that DFW may not be your jam, but it's ridiculous to think others will not enjoy a visit or find it interesting.
That said, I don't think it makes sense to treat the US as a monolith. There's so much diversity and distinct regions. For an East Coast tour Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC come to mind as typical top destinations. West Coast: SD, LA, SF, Portland, Seattle. Northern Rockies: Spokane/CdA, Bozeman, Jackson, Boise. Central Rockies: SLC, Denver, plus too many resort cities to list. Southwest: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Santa Fe, Albuquerque. You get the idea...
Even within these lists there's a ton of variability, depending on what one values. Even Phoenix is great as a base camp for winter/spring visitors looking to explore the region.
It's possible to be entertained in any city, including Dallas.
But where are Dallas' tourist-heavy districts? I'm not aware of any. A pretty sizeable downtown definition (with Uptown and Deep Ellum) has a moderate number of hotel rooms (12,000) despite a huge convention business.
Pleasure tourism (outside family and friends) concentrates in relatively few cities.
If we're insisting on looking at the US as a whole then the biggest destination cities should generally be the largest metros: NYC, LA, Chicago, DFW, Houston, DC, etc. More people = more culture = more things to see and do. I get that DFW may not be your jam, but it's ridiculous to think others will not enjoy a visit or find it interesting.
That said, I don't think it makes sense to treat the US as a monolith. There's so much diversity and distinct regions. For an East Coast tour Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC come to mind as typical top destinations. West Coast: SD, LA, SF, Portland, Seattle. Northern Rockies: Spokane/CdA, Bozeman, Jackson, Boise. Central Rockies: SLC, Denver, plus too many resort cities to list. Southwest: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Santa Fe, Albuquerque. You get the idea...
Even within these lists there's a ton of variability, depending on what one values. Even Phoenix is great as a base camp for winter/spring visitors looking to explore the region.
What would you do with a 4 day vacation in Dallas that you can't do in Boise? Prosports yes, but a lot of cities have that.
Another poster had Dallas and not Houston on the list. What can one do in Dallas that you can't do in Houston? Plus Houston has NASA.
I would probably list Houston's Museum District as a bigger destination for Houston than NASA. Yes, NASA is a less common amenity than a Museum District, but I would bet that the people who have visited the 2 would definitely give better reviews to the District over NASA.
NASA, or better yet Space Center Houston is for kids.
Houston's Museum District has world class Museums. It has top notch permanent exhibits and is often a first stop in the US for Traveling international exhibits.
It has things for everyone. There's the Natural Science Museum, the Children's Museum, the Museum for Fine arts, the Houston Zoo and Centennial Park in Hermann Park.
There's Rice University Campus and the Cultural Amenities there. The Rothko Chapel and the Menil Collection alone are worth the visit.
There's about 2 dozen museums concentrated in one area. Apart from the heavy hitters previously mentioned, I've might find interest in the Holocaust Museum, the Buffalo Soldiers Museum, the Jung Center, Museum of Health, the Center for photography, The Contemporary Arts Museum, the Center for Contemporary Crafts, The Lawndale center for Contemporary Arts, DiversityWorks, Czech Center Museum, Asia Society Museum and on and on.
Sure Dallas has Museums too, but comparing NASA and Houston's Museum District I works definitely list the Museum District as the bigger draw. NASA isn't an the easy to get to. Sure there is a bus, but the Museum District is in an urban setting between downtown and the medical center and is on the rail.
Looking at the most visited museums in the country in Wikipedia only 2 are located in the south and both are in Houston: the Museum of Fine art Houston and Houston's Museum of Science which at 2M plus visitors is among the top 10 most visited in the country.
The Museum District as a whole is climbing back up to the 10M plus annual visitors a year. That probably makes it the #1 tourist destination in Texas outside of malls. All the talk is about other cities in Texas but fact is Houston gets the most visitors.
If we're insisting on looking at the US as a whole then the biggest destination cities should generally be the largest metros: NYC, LA, Chicago, DFW, Houston, DC, etc. More people = more culture = more things to see and do. I get that DFW may not be your jam, but it's ridiculous to think others will not enjoy a visit or find it interesting.
That said, I don't think it makes sense to treat the US as a monolith. There's so much diversity and distinct regions. For an East Coast tour Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC come to mind as typical top destinations. West Coast: SD, LA, SF, Portland, Seattle. Northern Rockies: Spokane/CdA, Bozeman, Jackson, Boise. Central Rockies: SLC, Denver, plus too many resort cities to list. Southwest: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Santa Fe, Albuquerque. You get the idea...
Even within these lists there's a ton of variability, depending on what one values. Even Phoenix is great as a base camp for winter/spring visitors looking to explore the region.
NYC, LA, Chicago, DC, yes. Houston and Dallas... imagine someones first time in the USA being Houston or Dallas, all the beautiful strip malls, highways, and feeder roads to see /s
Mall visitors are generally locals, not tourists. The same probably goes for most museums.
Yes, that's my point.
I was searching to find the most visited spots in Dallas but the biggest draws that kept popping up were malls. Dealey Plaza and the Arys district kept popping up but those were snark compared to the malls. And for the state the Houston Galleria is by far the most visited spot. That's why I made the clarification that Houston's Museum District is probably the most visited spot in the state outside of malls because malls are by far mostly visited by locals.
People are losing Museums as an amenity for places like Boston and even listing Cleveland at a higher tier than Houston but Houston's Museum scene is greatly being underestimated here.
Here is a link to prepandemic visitors:
1. National Air and Space Museum
Washington, DC | 7,000,000 visitors
2. Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York | 7,000,000 visitors
3. National Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC | 6,000,000 visitors
4.National Gallery of Art
Washington, DC | 5,232,000 visitors
5.American Museum of Natural History
New York | 5,000,000 visitors
6. National Museum of American History
Washington, DC | 3,800,000 visitors
7. The Museum of Modern Art
New York | 2,750,000 visitors
8. National Museum of African American History & Culture
Washington, DC | 2,400,000 visitors 9. Houston Museum of Natural Science
Houston | 2,295,000 visitors
10. California Science Center
Los Angeles | 2,106,000 visitors https://www.10best.com/interests/gal...ms-in-america/
Boston is definitely on a higher destination tier than Houston overall, but Houston's Museum game is in that tier of cities with Boston and definitely above Cleveland.
NYC, LA, Chicago, DC, yes. Houston and Dallas... imagine someones first time in the USA being Houston or Dallas, all the beautiful strip malls, highways, and feeder roads to see /s
At least Houston has Nasa. Dallas has the Gaylord across the state line? Not trying to be facetious, just trying to figure it out. Ft. Worth Stockyards?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhays25
Mall visitors are generally locals, not tourists. The same probably goes for most museums.
Depends. Pentagon Mall in DC, several malls in LA are full of tourists.
Also, people listong Boston, what is the tourism draw for Boston? Boston serms like the least exciting of the big four in the Northeast.
What are the big four-- Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington? NY and DC on top and then it's either Boston or Philly. I'd say Boston has the edge because it's thought of as clean, safe, very walkable, good shopping, good sightseeing, close to Cape Cod and other New England attractions. They both have that American history/founding fathers pitch which wouldn't be very interesting to people outside the US. Boston has the more famous higher ed institutions-- Harvard, MIT are tourist destinations in themselves. Phila may be a better food city and is equally walkable but a bit dirtier, may seem more dangerous, and is so close to NY and Washington that people visit one or both of those instead.
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