Travel News: Most Visited Tourist Attractions
July 27, 2007
Forbes Magazine conducts elaborate searches and surveys in order to rank various subjects such as "World's most expensive hotels," "most visited U.S. cities," "best beaches," "best boutique hotels," etc., and we are fascinated with what makes the list. Sometimes surprised, sometimes not. Sometimes they miss a spot we've been to and love. In their "best beaches," we did not see any mention of the beaches in French Polynesia, which happen to be among our favorite. Their rankings include night life, which may be why Tahiti is missing. It's somewhat quiet there, thank God.
Image is a determining factor to a city's appeal. Sights such as The Grand Canyon or the Statue of Liberty will always draw crowds, but increasingly, marketing destinations is now more about how a destination will make you "feel" when you visit, about amenities that will, perhaps, change your life even if only for a weekend, i.e. Las Vegas -- which primarily used to be a gambling destination is now about playing hard and "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."
Here is their list of the Most Visited Tourist Attractions:
1. Times Square, New York City
2. National Mall & Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C.
3. Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Florida
4. Trafalgar Square, London, England
5. Disneyland Park, Anaheim, California
6. Niagara Falls, Ontario and New York
7. Fisherman’s Wharf/GGNRA, San Francisco
8. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea
9. Notre Dame de Paris
10. Disneyland Paris, Marne-La-Vallee
Reading departure signs in some big airport