Nightlife in Boston

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by msRB311

And? They could have been here for work or visiting friends/family/ college students.

What I am saying is that when families/couples sit down to plan a vacation destination I just don't think Boston is a place that often comes to mind. You are usually here for something else.

Boston's objectively a major American tourism draw and that's not really even debatable. It almost always ranks in the top 10 or 15 in the U.S. for tourism depending on the specific numbers you're using as a metric. Arguments about whether you can call Boston a "tourist city" because it doesn't get as many tourists as DC, NYC, Vegas, etc. are really just semantics when you're talking about millions or tens of millions of tourists per year. Just because you're not the biggest doesn't mean you're not big.

Boston gets a ton of international tourism. Unlike Americans who go away for long weekends or a week, European and Asian tourists go away for weeks or even months at a time and cover large areas and many cities. Boston is a regular stop on U.S. trips, and trips centered on the Eastern Seaboard in particular. Most people flying into New England for a Cape Cod/Islands, coastal Maine, or Vermont foliage vacation arrive in Boston and many spend a few days here. There's a reason Boston's hotel rates are among the highest in the nation (even on weekends, and especially so in the summer and fall). Millions of sports fans from around the world make pilgrimages to Boston to visit Fenway and the TD Garden (most Pats fans aren't staying in Foxboro either). Boston's cruise industry is rapidly growing and breaking records too - hundreds of thousands of cruise passengers stopped in Boston this year (though not all by choice), and 2024 is expected to break another record. None of that's even including the millions who live in New England or just beyond and head into town for day trips or a weekend.

And if you've ever had to walk somewhere fast downtown on a summer Saturday, you'll know it's not people "here for work" that are clogging sidewalks and gaping at the sites.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by msRB311

And? They could have been here for work or visiting friends/family/ college students.

What I am saying is that when families/couples sit down to plan a vacation destination I just don't think Boston is a place that often comes to mind. You are usually here for something else.

Disagree.

Long-time friends who live in Florida, with college age kids (all attending schools in the South), made a weeklong trip to Boston / New England last spring purely to see the sights. I mean, there are folks who prefer urban vacations (as I do)...cities like Boston, New Orleans, Chicago, NYC (of course), Seattle, and SF all tend to score well amongst that group.