America's Top Showcase City (Excluding NYC) (largest, compare, market, size)
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Orlando, Vegas and Honlulu were 4th, 6th and 7th most visited US cities by foreigners last year.
How many visitors to Orlando even make into the city limits and walk down a single street there?
When going to Orlando, a lot of people don't even say "we're going to Orlando." A lot of times you hear, "Yeah, we're taking the kids to Disney this summer." And "Disney" can sometimes mean all of the theme parks in the Greater Orlando area. Upon telling someone you're going to Orlando, they're not going to pull out a pen and pad and start writing down all of these fabulous restaurants and things for you to do.
How many visitors to Orlando even make into the city limits and walk down a single street there?
When going to Orlando, a lot of people don't even say "we're going to Orlando." A lot of times you hear, "Yeah, we're taking the kids to Disney this summer." And "Disney" can sometimes mean all of the theme parks in the Greater Orlando area. Upon telling someone you're going to Orlando, they're not going to pull out a pen and pad and start writing down all of these fabulous restaurants and things for you to do.
Your forgetting Universal Studios, Sea World, Waterparks, Golf, Variety of affordable hotels and chains.
Your forgetting Universal Studios, Sea World, Waterparks, Golf, Variety of affordable hotels and chains.
That's why I said "'Disney' can sometimes mean all of the theme parks in the Greater Orlando area." When a co-worker tells me he's "taking the kids to Disney," I don't necessarily assume that they're only going to Disney. I take that to mean they're doing most if not all of the parks down there.
Yea, but for example, a Chinese tourist is not going to Chicago just to hangout in the city's "neighborhoods" and mingle with the locals either, so I wouldn't single out DC.
I consider Washington DC to be more of a "stealth" city than a showcase city - beyond government, politics and museums. I say this because it is kind of deceptive and not immediately obvious to a visitor what this area offers.
Ocean beaches, watersports, marinas, rock climbing, skiing, skydiving, casinos, carnivals, concert halls, ethnic restaurants... - basically whatever you're looking for and whatever the lifestyle you want is within relatively easy access and is part of the culture.
However, DC is not known or iconic for these things like some other cities are. Most tourists will not know about it and are probably not even looking for it. You have to live in the area to know it. That is why it is less of a showcase city, in my view.
I consider Washington DC to be more of a "stealth" city than a showcase city - beyond government, politics and museums. I say this because it is kind of deceptive and not immediately obvious to a visitor what this area offers.
Ocean beaches, watersports, marinas, rock climbing, skiing, skydiving, casinos, carnivals, concert halls, ethnic restaurants... - basically whatever you're looking for and whatever the lifestyle you want is within relatively easy access and is part of the culture.
However, DC is not known or iconic for these things like some other cities are. Most tourists will not know about it and are probably not even looking for it. You have to live in the area to know it. That is why it is less of a showcase city, in my view.
Yeah, I think that is fair assessment. DC has some pretty good restaurants, decent shopping and active street life in Georgetown/14th street/Dupont, Eastern Market, Gallery Place. But, it comes nowhere near the level of a SF or Chicago when it comes to big city urban vibrancy and amenities. No Mag Mile and iconic skyscrapers, no bustling Union Square or densely packed Chinatown
It is probably on par with Bos and Philly, but perhaps with a less organic, old school city feel. Unlike dropping someone off around Boston Common or at the Philly City Hall, DC really doesn't have a big cohesive urban center. Lots of smaller activity nodes disconnected by blocks of drab office buildings and sleepy row house neighborhoods.
Somewhat like LA, except the nodes are a 20 min walk in DC vs a 20 min drive in LA.
Yeah, I think that is fair assessment. DC has some pretty good restaurants, decent shopping and active street life in Georgetown/14th street/Dupont, Eastern Market, Gallery Place. But, it comes nowhere near the level of a SF or Chicago when it comes to big city urban vibrancy and amenities.
It is probably on par with Bos and Philly, but perhaps with a less organic, old school city feel. Unlike dropping someone off around Boston Common or at the Philly City Hall, DC really doesn't have a big cohesive urban center. Lots of smaller activity nodes disconnected by lots of drab office buildings and sleepy row house neighborhoods.
Somewhat like LA, except the nodes are a 20 min walk in DC vs a 20 min drive in LA.
Not many office buildings outside of downtown. I wouldn't describe DC the way you did in the second part of that bolded sentence as well.
DC's neighborhoods are fine. It's just that no one is going to go out of their way to visit them. There's not even a hotel in the U Street District so most visitors couldn't stay there even if they wanted to.
Not many office buildings outside of downtown. I wouldn't describe DC the way you did in the second part of that bolded sentence as well.
DC's neighborhoods are fine. It's just that no one is going to go out of their way to visit them. There's not even a hotel in the U Street District so most visitors couldn't stay there even if they wanted to.
That's true, but it is not typical for tourists to visit neighborhoods in cities unless those are very famous like Beverly Hills, the traditional iconic home of movie stars. The closest thing to that in DC is probably Georgetown (and possibly Old Town Alexandria to a significantly lesser extent) and of course there are a lot of hotels in those places.
But most tourists only go to the landmarks. Even in New York City, the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, World Trade Center and such are the major tourist draws.
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