Why doesn't Chicago come across as touristy? (Buffalo, Detroit: movies, shop)

[5Lakes]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

While Miami does seem a bit high, it is top on the radar screen for South Americans. Telemundo and Univision are headquartered there. A lot of wealthy South Americans I believe have second homes there.

Go to Miami beach and you will see tons of European tourists as well and hear all sorts of languages. It's the most international district in the country IMO. Also, South America is quite large and being a prime vacation spot for an entire continent goes a long way. Don't forget all of the people from NYC who love to vacation there in the winter either.

I'm surprised I don't see New Orleans or San Diego on that list.

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Seattle doesn't surprise me. People from Asia love to go to Seattle and San Fran, plus don't forget how close Seattle is to Vancouver, Victoria, etc. Canadians are international visitors, too.

Miami surprises me a little more. If anything, when I think of international visitors going to Florida I think of Orlando. I'll admit I don't know much about Miami, though. Their behemoth media machine has apparently somehow failed to reach me.

This is admittedly hard to measure, but EuroMonitor is a very respected source of information. Miami doesn't surprise me in the least. I have family down there and have probably been 4-5 times in the last decade. There are a LOT of Argentines, Brazilians, Italians, French, Spanish, etc who go to Miami for recreation. It's kind of the Cannes or Monaco winter time equivalent for wealthy Europeans. Germans tend to stick more to the Gulf Coast. If you walk around South Beach in the winter months, you will see a TON of flags from different countries, girls wearing bikinis with a Brazilian motif, etc. Miami is also very popular with Canadian tourists. Miami was the #1 US destination for South American tourists, #6 for Western Europeans.

Here is another good source of info (US govt). The numbers are very different, but Chicago is still about in the same place. Canadian and Mexican visitors are omitted from this one:

http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpag...and_Cities.pdf

New York 9.3 million
LA 3.6 million
Miami 3.0 million
San Francisco 2.9 million
Vegas 2.8 million
Orlando 2.8 million
DC 1.8 million
Honolulu 1.8 million
Boston 1.3 million
Chicago 1.2 million

Seattle drops due to lack of Canadian visitors.

More details here:

International Visitation in the United states

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by 5Lakes

Don't forget all of the people from NYC who love to vacation there in the winter either.

While some might consider NYC a foreign country, visitors from there shouldn't be technically counted as international tourism.

[grapico]

Miami isn't surprising in the least, though I can't say I'm personally a fan, it's very international on it's own as well as a global tourist hot spot, becomes a European playground in the winter.

[urza216]

I have no idea why Chicago doesn't come across as touristy to the OP. Maybe because it's in he Midwest?

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Chicagoist123

I highly doubt Seattle gets visited ore than Chicago and DC. Or Miami THAT much more than LA.

It's not that hard to believe Seattle gets more international visitors seeing how it's a border city. Miami isn't that hard to believe either, drawing visitors from Latin America to visit family and drawing visitors from Europe looking for a "tropical" vacation spot.

[munna21977]

As a tourist and more specifically international tourist, NYC is hte biggest thing in USA. while visiting New York, people can also see DC, Niagara falls which are close by. Similarly Orlando, Miami are close by. People also club Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Chicago is one place with not so famous surroundings. Having said that, Chicago airport is well connected to many countries and it is port of entry for many international visitors.

[soulful]

North Michigan Avenue often looks to be about 90percent tourist. Tripping over them in fact. And that does cause me to feel it is "touristy".

[mayhem_223]

Chicago draws a lot of international tourists. You can hear Germans at many spots on North Michigan Ave
It is within driving distance to another world city. We call it Toronto though we often disregard it because its across international border.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by soulful

North Michigan Avenue often looks to be about 90percent tourist. Tripping over them in fact. And that does cause me to feel it is "touristy".

I think it's just the degree of tourists. There are definitely more tourists out and about in SF, and in Vegas or parts of Orlando it might be hard to bump into anybody that is actually from there while out and about.
Miami in Coconut Grove and South Beach are also extremely touristy.

The tourists in Chicago as you said, are mostly concentrated down Michigan Ave and in areas along River North. Go to almost anywhere in Manhattan in contrast and they are crawling out of the woodwork from Battery Park to North Central Park.

Just going out and having conversations in these places you'll often meet tons of people from allover the world. I don't think I have seen it as concentrated tourism as Las Vegas or waiting in line at an Orlando theme park anywhere in the U.S. though.