Most Popular U.S. Cities by Instagram Posts

[Mr Ambitious]

Originally Posted by anonelitist

I think the point was that the US has a federal agency that tracks international visitation, so the methodology is uniform and fairly accurate. It's also pretty apples to apples with the methodology other cities/countries around the world use.

The methodology that individual cities use to track "visitors" or "tourists" (could be defined as completely different things) is so apples and oranges all the time that it becomes pointless. Is a visitor who drives in and stays with a friend in their apartment tracked? Is a person who stays 3 nights in a hotel on business considered a "tourist"? Is a person who stays 3 nights for whatever reason considered 3 visitors (like an unlinked transit trip tracked by APTA)?

Some of the tourist numbers cities post up are just not sounding real.

Point taken

[cheese plate]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

International tourists numbers are the best measurement for how big your city is in tourism.

No they aren't - it's going to be erroneously weighted towards coastal towns that are access points. Chicago is the biggest mid-country draw, throwing out those hordes of domestic tourists makes exactly zero sense.