20 Most Well Known American cities to foreigners (Atlanta, Los Angeles, airport)

[sunburst_52]

i would have to include mexicans. they know mostly all cities in the states that border mexico.

1. san diego
2. thats it **** you guys go sd!!!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by sunburst_52

i would have to include mexicans. they know mostly all cities in the states that border mexico.

1. san diego
2. thats it **** you guys go sd!!!

What?

[Southern Soul Bro]

Aside from all the other things mentioned about Atlanta, two main things make it popular.

1. 1996 Olympics.
2. Hip-Hop

Hip Hop has become very popular worldwide...most of your mainstream hip-hop artists nowadays come out of Atlanta.

The Moniker "ATL" is known in many international urban areas simply for being the home of many rap artists, mentioned in songs, and even had an urban movie with the name. This alone makes ATL popular WORLD WIDE atleast with the younger generations.

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by Cuttlefish

- Miami because of Miami Vice

Miami is not known mostly for Miami Vice. It's most known because of South Beach. I remember reading something about the most visited US cities and 2 from Florida made the list. They said something like "At one time or another, it seems that every European takes a packaged trip to Miami". I live in South Beach and can tell you that that statement feels spot on. I meet Western and Eastern Europeans all the time. My colleagues from around the world constantly ask me about visiting. I work with a global team and talk to each of them weekly. I never have to explain where I live. They all know. I have also met my fair shair of Aussies who come to South Beach on their sabbatical they get after 10(?) years. Additionally, if you ask anyone on the continent of South America, Miami will probably top the list. The one part of the world that doesn't seem to funnel tons of people annually into Miami is Asia.
The other city on that list from Florida is Orlando. Though a yawner of a city from a global perspective, one cannot discount the power of the mouse. Disney World and all the other periphery theme parks are an enormous international draw. Go there and watch the frenzy of English people, burnt to a crisp from the sun, shopping the outlet malls like starving children looking for their first meal. It's really jolly good fun!

[Trimac20]

Yeah Miami should be higher on the list actually. The TV show CSI Miami alone probably puts it right up there.

[mikey1984]

This is an actual most popular list, so safe to say the most well known.


Top US Destinations for International and Domestic Travelers for First Half of 2009
WHERE THEY'RE GOING

Top U.S. destinations for international and domestic travelers for the first half of 2009:
International Travelers
1. New York
2. Las Vegas
3. San Francisco
4. Miami
5. Los Angeles
6. Orlando, Fla.
7. Chicago
8. Boston
9. San Diego
10. Seattle
11. Washington, D.C.
12. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
13. Honolulu
14. Newark, N.J.
15. Anaheim, Calif.
16. New Orleans
17. Atlanta
18. San Antonio
19. Houston
20. Key West, Fla.

Domestic Travelers
1. Las Vegas
2. New York
3. Orlando, Fla.
4. Chicago
5. San Francisco
6. Los Angeles
7. San Diego
8. Miami
9. Boston
10. San Antonio
11. Atlanta
12. Seattle
13. Houston
14. New Orleans
15. Washington, D.C.
16. Dallas
17. Denver
18. Anaheim, Calif.
19. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
20. Philadelphia


http://www.starbulletin.com/business...vor_isles.html

[Southern Soul Bro]

Those lists are slightly skewed because when you take Ft. Lauderdale, Anaheim, and Newark most of those travelers were just using the airports to get to Miami, LA and New York. It's like naming those 3 cities twice on each list.

[mikey1984]

It's based on hotels not airports.

[Boston14]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Being from Australia, I can give a bit of a non-American view. I was just interested to see which were the most well known major cities to foreigners in general - those that they would mention first. Cities like Beverly Hills were excluded. It's also interesting to see how the 'best known' list compares with the population ranking. I guess in Australia we measure population differently (including the metro area) but that's another thing. Anyway, here's my list of the cities I perceive to be best known outside the US for people.

1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. San Francisco
4. Washington D.C./Las Vegas
5. Chicago/Boston (roughly tied)
6. Memphis
7. New Orleans
8. Seattle
9. Philadelphia
10. Detroit
11. Atlanta
12. Dallas
13. San Diego
14. Houston
15. Honolulu
16. Nashville
17. Miami
18. Portland
19. Phoenix/El Paso, Texas
20. Cleveland

Some of those lower in the list might be wildly out, but i think the top 5 are pretty much set.

Seems good to me

[WeSoHood]

I've traveled a fair bit.. and almost everyone I've met knows Cleveland. I'm not sure if it's the large foreign populations that moved here in the early 20th century .. but it would make sense.

From my travels, it seems like cities with pro sports are the ones best known.