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Chicago is a great destination for international tourists offering a massive/unique skyline, urbanity, world class architecture, world class food, etc, etc, etc. I would recommend Miami too, europeans flock to Miami for a reason! Miami is known for their binge drinking, nose candy and partying ways, but it's guilt free for a couple days and both should be seen by international tourists. I would not recommend Atlanta or New Orleans to international tourists. Why? There are simply too many other cities offering more in the world. Honestly, I wouldn't even recommend them to Americans, waste of time and money! I voted for Chicago, just too unique IMHO!
Most people go to Miami for the beaches and nightlife. Let's be honest. That's why it has such an abnormally high international tourist appeal and even domestic appeal, it's still top 4-5 I think. I don't think people go to Miami for history and attractions.
Hey, nobody travels to the states for history: our country is just some 200 years old for Christ sake!
There are no pyramids and no palaces or historical cities here. From a global perspective any structure less than 500 years in not really historical. People come to New York because the city is considered the top urbanity with incredible culture, Miami on the other hand is a perfect tourist stop with great weather, shopping and nightlife that trumps Chicago, NOLA, and Atlanta. Miami is a true tourist magnet much more than the other two cities, which is reflected in numbers. That's all
Last edited by risotto11; 01-05-2014 at 08:24 PM..
Hey, nobody travels to the states for history: our country some 200 years old for Christ sake!
There are no pyramids and no palaces historical cities here. From a global perspective any structure less than 500 years in not really historical. People come to New York because the city is considered the top urbanity with incredible culture, Miami on the other hand is a perfect tourist stop with great weather, shopping, nightlife that trumps Chicago, NOLA, and Atlanta. Miami so truly a tourist magnet more other three cities, which is reflected in numbers.
This is true and I agree. Especially regarding a city like Atlanta. The only significant history from Atlanta, I would think, only appeals to domestic visitors...not international tourists. Hence, my first post in this thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chilly Gentilly
Ok so International Tourism specifically...
1. Miami
2. Chicago
3. New Orleans
then....
.....Atlanta
...though I do feel that New Orleans' nightlife trumps Miami's, but that's clearly subject to personal preference.
Hey, nobody travels to the states for history: our country some 200 years old for Christ sake!
There are no pyramids and no palaces historical cities here. From a global perspective any structure less than 500 years in not really historical. People come to New York because the city is considered the top urbanity with incredible culture, Miami on the other hand is a perfect tourist stop with great weather, shopping, nightlife that trumps Chicago, NOLA, and Atlanta. Miami so truly a tourist magnet more other three cities, which is reflected in numbers.
Miami trumps NOLA in nightlife? Well I guess Vegas trumps us all.
I think people in this thread are overrating Chicago. I see parallels between Chicago and a city like Milan. Huge international importance and lots of stuff that's cool for visitors to see and do, but nothing quite unique or famous enough to draw tourists in massive numbers. If you're in the states for other reasons, a lot of people will go out of their way to visit Chicago and generally enjoy it and regard it highly, but it's probably not on most people's "must see" list.
Miami is globally famous for its beaches and nightlife. It's a top American international tourist destination any way you cut it. It doesn't quite have enough pull to dominate its country's tourism scene (as Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, and London do in their respective countries), but basically any visitor from any random country who is visiting the USA would put Miami high on their list. I would equate it to a city like Munich or Hong Kong--not an absolute make-or-break must see if you're visiting that country, but a city people will generally go out of their way to see, and often will make a special trip to that country to do so. The fact that it's a "beach town" doesn't matter. Cancun is Mexico's top destination by a big margin, and has a lot less to it compared with Miami.
Atlanta I would equate to cities like Frankfurt, Shanghai, Sofia, Guadalajara, or Sao Paulo. Foreigners generally don't get that excited to go to these places. If someone is visiting Atlanta, there's probably some other draw that is taking them to Atlanta, they generally want to see the US and are probably feeling so-so about visiting Atlanta specifically, especially if they are aware of a number of prominent things about Atlanta (Olympics, Coke, MLK, etc). Atlanta probably isn't seen as a particularly bad or undesirable city to visit for foreigners--as Guangzhou, Naples, Johannesburg, Kolkata, Detroit, and Marseilles are often perceived in their respective countries, whether deserved or not--but just not noteworthy enough to justify going out of your way to visit.
New Orleans is an odd case. I'm sure many people around the world aren't well-versed in its unique culture and history, but if explained a bit about its place American history would find it pretty fascinating. Lots of countries have destinations kind of like this--not really globally hugely important, but extremely unique destinations within their respective countries, with a special history that interests travelers enough to make a stop there. Harar in Ethiopia, Ouro Preto in Brazil, Split in Croatia, Gibraltar in Spain (arguably), Guanajuato in Mexico. All very solid tourist destinations for one reason or another, but generally after someone visits the US their friends won't ask them "Did you make it to New Orleans?!" as they well might with Miami. But nonetheless, if you went out of your way to visit New Orleans (or Chicago) it would be considered normal, whereas going out of your way to visit Atlanta would raise eyebrows.
To me Miami is clearly #1 and Atlanta is clearly #4, both by sound margins. New Orleans/Chicago probably depends a bit on who the tourist is exactly and what they are interested. A rich middle eastern couple would probably want little to do with New Orleans, while an Australian youth would probably think it's pretty awesome. I guess I'd give the edge to New Orleans due to its uniqueness (if someone was visiting NYC and had the option of also visiting New Orleans or Chicago, I'd say New Orleans). So New Orleans #2, Chicago #3 would be my vote, but it's close between the two.
What can I do in NOLA or Miami that I can't in LA? Sorry for the ignorance but I have not been to these burgs to say. I have seen Chicago, the cab from the airport to DTC almost bought my full attention for a moment. I was taken away by the skyline but after spending days in the Chi I didn't see anything I don't have in LA or can't get in NYC. I also thought I was wasting time in SF. Had nothing I couldn't already see in LA or in NYC. Chicago is decent, fun clubs so it beats SanFran which is a snoozefest.
What can I do in NOLA or Miami that I can't in LA?.
Wrong question. People don't go to Cancun because there are activities there that they couldn't find in other cities but mostly for the weather. Miami is the southernmost big city in the US and the weather and water temperature reflects that. As the say in real estate: there are three things that really count - location, location and location lol. The rest is a mere consequence.
BTW. You guys are probably aware that Florida is the fastest growing state in the nation and currently at number four in population behind only California, Texas and New York while significantly smaller than any of them?
Apparently Florida and Miami has a LOTS of pull domestically and internationally...
Last edited by risotto11; 01-05-2014 at 09:56 PM..
I think people in this thread are overrating Chicago. I see parallels between Chicago and a city like Milan. Huge international importance and lots of stuff that's cool for visitors to see and do, but nothing quite unique or famous enough to draw tourists in massive numbers. If you're in the states for other reasons, a lot of people will go out of their way to visit Chicago and generally enjoy it and regard it highly, but it's probably not on most people's "must see" list.
Miami is globally famous for its beaches and nightlife. It's a top American international tourist destination any way you cut it. It doesn't quite have enough pull to dominate its country's tourism scene (as Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, and London do in their respective countries), but basically any visitor from any random country who is visiting the USA would put Miami high on their list. I would equate it to a city like Munich or Hong Kong--not an absolute make-or-break must see if you're visiting that country, but a city people will generally go out of their way to see, and often will make a special trip to that country to do so. The fact that it's a "beach town" doesn't matter. Cancun is Mexico's top destination by a big margin, and has a lot less to it compared with Miami.
Atlanta I would equate to cities like Frankfurt, Shanghai, Sofia, Guadalajara, or Sao Paulo. Foreigners generally don't get that excited to go to these places. If someone is visiting Atlanta, there's probably some other draw that is taking them to Atlanta, they generally want to see the US and are probably feeling so-so about visiting Atlanta specifically, especially if they are aware of a number of prominent things about Atlanta (Olympics, Coke, MLK, etc). Atlanta probably isn't seen as a particularly bad or undesirable city to visit for foreigners--as Guangzhou, Naples, Johannesburg, Kolkata, Detroit, and Marseilles are often perceived in their respective countries, whether deserved or not--but just not noteworthy enough to justify going out of your way to visit.
New Orleans is an odd case. I'm sure many people around the world aren't well-versed in its unique culture and history, but if explained a bit about its place American history would find it pretty fascinating. Lots of countries have destinations kind of like this--not really globally hugely important, but extremely unique destinations within their respective countries, with a special history that interests travelers enough to make a stop there. Harar in Ethiopia, Ouro Preto in Brazil, Split in Croatia, Gibraltar in Spain (arguably), Guanajuato in Mexico. All very solid tourist destinations for one reason or another, but generally after someone visits the US their friends won't ask them "Did you make it to New Orleans?!" as they well might with Miami. But nonetheless, if you went out of your way to visit New Orleans (or Chicago) it would be considered normal, whereas going out of your way to visit Atlanta would raise eyebrows.
To me Miami is clearly #1 and Atlanta is clearly #4, both by sound margins. New Orleans/Chicago probably depends a bit on who the tourist is exactly and what they are interested. A rich middle eastern couple would probably want little to do with New Orleans, while an Australian youth would probably think it's pretty awesome. I guess I'd give the edge to New Orleans due to its uniqueness (if someone was visiting NYC and had the option of also visiting New Orleans or Chicago, I'd say New Orleans). So New Orleans #2, Chicago #3 would be my vote, but it's close between the two.
VERY well stated. Even though I placed Chicago over my city...just because of its sheer size, influence, amenities, etc. I also agree that New Orleans is a relatively underrated city like the ones you mentioned. New Orleans has always had a branding and PR deficiency. This is why most people, domestic and international, don't automatically think of NOLA as a go-to destination outside of Mardi Gras, Essence Fest, and Jazz Fest...(even though we host year round festivals)
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