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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I'm from Australia, and visited Washington DC and Boston when I was in the states. I'm interested in American history and culture (less so the politics but still interesting) myself, so it was great to see all those sights. I also wanted to see Philly but it was either Philly or Boston so I chose Boston.
Maybe it was just me but I noticed by far most tourists in DC were Americans. I did see international visitors, of course, but not to the extent of NY. Boston seemed to have more Europeans than DC too.
Are Europeans, Asians.etc interested in visiting these days? I know Florida, NY, LA, Vegas.etc seem to hog the stats, but I think quite a few Europeans are actually pretty interested in these historical American cities.
Trimac, D.C. is infested with foreign tourists as far as the eye can see, especially in the summertime. Most crowd around the White House and the Lincoln Memorial. Every time I go there (I live within driving distance) most of the most visible tourists I see are from Korea, India, Japan, and China. A lot of the white people you saw that you thought were American could have easily been European.
Now, as for Philly, I also live within driving distance of the place and know it like the back of my hand. It's not as well known abroad, most foreigners there are from Russia, Ukraine, and China, probably visiting from NYC. I'm not sure about Boston, I've never been there.
I dont know but I would guess that most tourists do the New York, Florida, LA thing, but its the same in the UK (most international tourists head straight for London) and Im guessing Australia (Sydney, Melbourne at a push)??
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by easthome
I dont know but I would guess that most tourists do the New York, Florida, LA thing, but its the same in the UK (most international tourists head straight for London) and Im guessing Australia (Sydney, Melbourne at a push)??
Well yes but Australia is well known for Uluru, Great Barrier Reef.etc too, but the majority of people tend to stay near the coast.
Cities start off the same way. First they're regional attractions for those living 200 miles near them, when they get accolades then they move up to national centers where people from the country are going to see, when they get more unique accolades and recognition then they move on up to the global level. Which is very hard to attain.
Look at it this way, Tokyo is the world's largest city and it still legs to Paris, London, New York, Hong Kong on tourism while being twice the size (New York) or three times the size (to London and Paris) or five times the size (to Hong Kong). The city has credentials and name recognition but it's still at this point globalizing on the cosmopolitan aspect, more people in places like Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Lagos, Delhi, Jakarta, Moscow need to be waking up in the morning and thinking to themselves "I have to check out Tokyo, it's a must see (which it is)". For that idea to register to them, they need to get more people attracted to there, they need people to visit and go back home and tell everyone they know.
Now Tokyo pulls in a lot of tourists but for it's size it comes down a few pegs. The reason I used it as an example is because while the city has plenty to offer, it still has a tougher time registering to people from ALL OVER the world (it does well in the United States and Canada though). Boston and Washington are more so national destinations, they have what it takes to be global destinations but I'm hoping for a revamp on more leisure oriented amenities and the global reputation to increase before that happens though.
Perhaps one day but for now, they do modestly compared to American peers. Good but not at a global great level, in my opinion.
High School kids go to DC as if it is part of the curriculum, it is THE most popular "field trip" for American kids. Additionally, many suburban and country adults visit DC because they think it is a patriotic thing to do, even if they hate cities and Washington politics. So the OP is correct, DC gets way more domestic tourists than Philly and Boston.
I'll defer to others on Philly and Boston attracting international tourists.
High School kids go to DC as if it is part of the curriculum, it is THE most popular "field trip" for American kids. Additionally, many suburban and country adults visit DC because they think it is a patriotic thing to do, even if they hate cities and Washington politics. So the OP is correct, DC gets way more domestic tourists than Philly and Boston.
I'll defer to others on Philly and Boston attracting international tourists.
Washington draws more international tourists than Boston and Philadelphia.
Philadelphia gets over 30 million tourists but mostly from the Bos-Wash corridor. It's more on an American level than Boston or Washington, albeit all three are.
International tourism:
Washington DC 1,812,000
Boston 1,311,000
Philadelphia 613,000
Regionally for domestic travel, Philadelphia beats them both. It's 30 million to 25 million for the other two but international tourism and it's not that close at all.
All one needs to do is look at the airline destinations each city's airport offers, market demands leave it to where Washington has a direct flight to the world's every fringe corner except Oceania. Boston easily comes in second to everywhere except Africa and Oceania and Philadelphia is limited to flights only in North America and Europe with none to Asia, South America, Africa, or Oceania.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by valentro
Cities start off the same way. First they're regional attractions for those living 200 miles near them, when they get accolades then they move up to national centers where people from the country are going to see, when they get more unique accolades and recognition then they move on up to the global level. Which is very hard to attain.
Look at it this way, Tokyo is the world's largest city and it still legs to Paris, London, New York, Hong Kong on tourism while being twice the size (New York) or three times the size (to London and Paris) or five times the size (to Hong Kong). The city has credentials and name recognition but it's still at this point globalizing on the cosmopolitan aspect, more people in places like Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Lagos, Delhi, Jakarta, Moscow need to be waking up in the morning and thinking to themselves "I have to check out Tokyo, it's a must see (which it is)". For that idea to register to them, they need to get more people attracted to there, they need people to visit and go back home and tell everyone they know.
Now Tokyo pulls in a lot of tourists but for it's size it comes down a few pegs. The reason I used it as an example is because while the city has plenty to offer, it still has a tougher time registering to people from ALL OVER the world (it does well in the United States and Canada though). Boston and Washington are more so national destinations, they have what it takes to be global destinations but I'm hoping for a revamp on more leisure oriented amenities and the global reputation to increase before that happens though.
Perhaps one day but for now, they do modestly compared to American peers. Good but not at a global great level, in my opinion.
This is true. I think cost, or the perception of Tokyo as being an expensive place, is one of the main reasons for Tokyo's lack of popularity. For Americans on the east coast and European's it's pretty far too. Historically, Westerners tended to favour visiting Europe for culture and history, while most Asians were too poor to visit Japan. Much of the attraction in Asia is it's cheapness, which Tokyo doesn't have. Tokyo has some authentic Japanese/Asian culture but with European prices, so it's a bit in between.
I think though we'll see tourism to Japan rise fairly steadily. The number of people in the West learning Japanese has increased considerably since 1990. Even Korea might be seen as an international tourist destination.
Boston and Philly are sort of 'neither here nor there' for mass tourists. While historical for Americans most Europeans would be unimpressed. Most Asians and Australians are attracted to the US for it's plastic glamour, unfortunately, although the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone.etc remain popular.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by valentro
Washington draws more international tourists than Boston and Philadelphia.
Philadelphia gets over 30 million tourists but mostly from the Bos-Wash corridor. It's more on an American level than Boston or Washington, albeit all three are.
International tourism:
Washington DC 1,812,000
Boston 1,311,000
Philadelphia 613,000
Regionally for domestic travel, Philadelphia beats them both. It's 30 million to 25 million for the other two but international tourism and it's not that close at all.
All one needs to do is look at the airline destinations each city's airport offers, market demands leave it to where Washington has a direct flight to the world's every fringe corner except Oceania. Boston easily comes in second to everywhere except Africa and Oceania and Philadelphia is limited to flights only in North America and Europe with none to Asia, South America, Africa, or Oceania.
Wow those figures for international tourism are really really low.
Wow those figures for international tourism are really really low.
Indeed.
We have possibly four to five cities that are international draws: New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, and Orlando (I'm on the fence with San Francisco, it just barely makes a strict cutoff).
The rest of the cities in America, are very much national and regional attractions with a small and stringent miniature sized pull on the world of tourism globally.
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