Tourism and You!

[Prahaboheme]

Orlando's 60 million plus visitors a year are some of the worst tourists on the planet. So much so, that they rarely do research outside of the major theme park attractions to take in some of the region's plentiful natural attractions or arts / cultural venues.

Most tourists to Orlando do not even realize or care that they never step foot in Orlando.

[pdxtex]

portland, or. well we seem to have lots of tourists, definitely more in the last ten years then ive ever seen. sometimes its hard to tell the differnece between a vacationer and a recent transplant. just taking a guess, id say most are regional visitors, either from the NW or the west coast. the rest are a mish mash of midwesterners, a few from the east coast and lots of asian tourists too. except for a few folks, id bet portland isnt the primary destination but might be part of a tour of the region. major bands tend to skip portland too in favor of seattle but that changing as well. ten more years and portland will be a much larger tourist draw. for now, it seem likes they are all standing in line at voodoo doughnuts or shopping at powells....

[Leo the Dog]

SD is a military town and a convention-tourism town.

We live and die by the tourist. I personally love the tourists as they are stimulating the local economy. Some annoying locals have a lot of angst against them for crowding the beaches and taking the parking spaces and fail to reason that so many local businesses depend on tourist dollars.

Summer is the peak season while Thanksgiving to Xmas is low season. The other months are busy, just not as busy as June - Sept.

People flock from all over the world to enjoy the pleasant summer conditions along 70 miles of beaches. Seaworld, the Zoo, Legoland and even Disneyland continue to attract families. Close proximity to Tijuana and TJ International airport, Cruise terminals, fishing trips also bring in many people.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

portland, or. well we seem to have lots of tourists, definitely more in the last ten years then ive ever seen. sometimes its hard to tell the differnece between a vacationer and a recent transplant. just taking a guess, id say most are regional visitors, either from the NW or the west coast. the rest are a mish mash of midwesterners, a few from the east coast and lots of asian tourists too. except for a few folks, id bet portland isnt the primary destination but might be part of a tour of the region. major bands tend to skip portland too in favor of seattle but that changing as well. ten more years and portland will be a much larger tourist draw. for now, it seem likes they are all standing in line at voodoo doughnuts or shopping at powells....

That's us. Portland is pretty popular for young Vancouverites, but that might change now that the US Dollar is at a record high.

Most people I know have been to Portland and most of those go about once every 2 years. Portland is slightly more popular than Seattle, even though it's twice as far for us. Except for sports, Portland has a little more to offer the urban visitor. Come to think about it, of the 3 PNW cities, Portland is probably the one that has the most visitors who come to specifically see the city and its urban amenities, rather than as a jumping off point to nature or a cruise, or because they have relatives there.

PS: Many of those Asian tourists you see might be us. 40-50% of Vancouverites are of Asian descent.

[pdxtex]

^^^^is portland regarded as cheap for vancouver folks? without sales tax, alot of people like to shop here ive noticed. people from vancouver, WA cross the bridge to get gas and groceries especially.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

^^^^is portland regarded as cheap for vancouver folks? without sales tax, alot of people like to shop here ive noticed. people from vancouver, WA cross the bridge to get gas and groceries especially.

Yes, Portland is cheap but it's too far for day trippers who are just coming down to shop. The giant outlet mall at Tulalip is about 75 miles south of the border, and therefore about as far as Vancouverites will want to travel to shop for deals, while also serving people who live in the northern part of the Seattle metro. Otherwise it's Bellingham for us.

Canada is an expensive country and unless the exchange rate is really unfavorable, Canadians who live near the border (which is basically all of us) will do a lot of shopping in the US.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Yes, Portland is cheap but it's too far for day trippers who are just coming down to shop. The giant outlet mall at Tulalip is about 75 miles south of the border, and therefore about as far as Vancouverites will want to travel to shop for deals, while also serving people who live in the northern part of the Seattle metro. Otherwise it's Bellingham for us.

Canada is an expensive country and unless the exchange rate is really unfavorable, Canadians who live near the border (which is basically all of us) will do a lot of shopping in the US.

Unless you are among the ~18-20% of the country that lives in Alberta, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland. Border is hours away, and any sizable American towns that have shopping destinations worth mentioning a minimum of 5-6 hours of driving. A quick hop across the border for shopping is just not reality for 1/5 Canadians.

[austlar1]

Over the past decade Austin has become a place that attracts lots of weekend getaway types from places like Houston and DFW. This weekend visitor traffic seemed to increase substantially in numbers following Hurricane Katrina when New Orleans tourism took a real hit that lasted for a year or two. Prior to that event a lot of Texans seeking a short vacation getaway tended to visit New Orleans. Austin offers a slightly safer and more toned down experience that is similar in some ways to what visitors find in New Orleans, especially the night life. Austin also has a steady stream of visitors from other parts of the country many of them visiting for annual events like SXSW or one of the other music festivals or special events. There is also a steady stream of convention visitors. Downtown will soon have about 6,000 hotel rooms to accommodate the more upscale visitor. Others stay in the thousands of nearby motel rooms along the IH 35 corridor. Finally during the football season, the UT home games attract a large number of visitors. Almost all tourists congregate downtown, and for many living in Austin this has made downtown a less attractive or convenient place to spend time. Tourism did not seem very important in Austin until recently. Now tourists are visible in large numbers throughout the year.

[Boris2k7]

As for Calgary...

In 2013, Cowtown got about 7.6 million visitors, who spent more than $1.6 Billion in the city. Traditionally, the big summer draws are the Stampede and hiking in the Rockies, while the big winter draw is carving up the slopes on ski resorts. Banff/Lake Louise is a big draw for Asian tourists (also, a lot of Quebecois) and the Stampede brings a lot of Germans and Americans to town. A lot of skiers from Australia and New Zealand will spend their winters at home and then come to Alberta for our winters. More recently, Calgary's culinary scene is becoming a draw for American tourists.

All that said, the majority of travel to Calgary is for business purposes, and specifically O&G related. As a hub for the energy industry, a lot of visitors to Calgary will be from big banks or big oil, and will see Calgary through a frame that includes steak houses, petroleum conventions, artisinal cafes and cowboy-themed nightclubs. They will see Calgary's art and architecture that has been in large part gifted to it by individual philanthropists and corporate largesse. Their hosts may take them to a Stampeders football or a Flames hockey game.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Boris2k7

Unless you are among the ~18-20% of the country that lives in Alberta, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland. Border is hours away, and any sizable American towns that have shopping destinations worth mentioning a minimum of 5-6 hours of driving. A quick hop across the border for shopping is just not reality for 1/5 Canadians.

Ha ha, how far would these threads go without people who take things literally?

The vast majority (>68%, or the equivalent of one standard deviation away from the mean) of Canadians live within 150 km of the border. Happy?

[10023]

Originally Posted by Prahaboheme

Orlando's 60 million plus visitors a year are some of the worst tourists on the planet. So much so, that they rarely do research outside of the major theme park attractions to take in some of the region's plentiful natural attractions or arts / cultural venues.

Most tourists to Orlando do not even realize or care that they never step foot in Orlando.

No offense, but it should be quite obvious that the vast majority of those 60 million tourists are there to visit Disney, not Orlando. To expect otherwise is like expecting visitors to Vegas to leave the Strip.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Ha ha, how far would these threads go without people who take things literally?

The vast majority (>68%, or the equivalent of one standard deviation away from the mean) of Canadians live within 150 km of the border. Happy?

So what you are saying is that 2/3 is the very near to being the same thing as "basically all." Interesting.

Also, can't wait to hear about those great shopping deals someone from Regina is going to find in the great metropolis of Bismarck, North Dakota.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by Prahaboheme

Orlando's 60 million plus visitors a year are some of the worst tourists on the planet. So much so, that they rarely do research outside of the major theme park attractions to take in some of the region's plentiful natural attractions or arts / cultural venues.

Most tourists to Orlando do not even realize or care that they never step foot in Orlando.

Those are not the worst kinds of tourists on the planet. The worst kinds of tourists on the planet are the 18-25 y.o. middle america drunken idiot tourists (that I'm sure also plague Vegas and New Orleans). The kind that feel that since they are in another city they should be free to drink themselves nearly to death at any location while screaming at random passers-by to show them their tits or something.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Boris2k7

So what you are saying is that 2/3 is the very near to being the same thing as "basically all." Interesting.

Who cares?

[brickell]

Can't live with them, can't live with out them, but can occasionally shoot a couple so they know their place.

The problem in Miami is that half the tourist decide to stay.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by Prahaboheme

Orlando's 60 million plus visitors a year are some of the worst tourists on the planet. So much so, that they rarely do research outside of the major theme park attractions to take in some of the region's plentiful natural attractions or arts / cultural venues.

Most tourists to Orlando do not even realize or care that they never step foot in Orlando.

Are you freaking serious? I can't tell whether you're joking or just colossally ignorant.

[memememe76]

As a Vancouverite, I don't interact with tourists too often. The only time I notice tourists is when I am running the Seawall. They tend to walk side-by-side in 3+, which makes it harder to pass them without playing Red Rover. Or they walk on the cycling path.

[Urbanguy]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

That's us. Portland is pretty popular for young Vancouverites, but that might change now that the US Dollar is at a record high.

Most people I know have been to Portland and most of those go about once every 2 years. Portland is slightly more popular than Seattle, even though it's twice as far for us. Except for sports, Portland has a little more to offer the urban visitor. Come to think about it, of the 3 PNW cities, Portland is probably the one that has the most visitors who come to specifically see the city and its urban amenities, rather than as a jumping off point to nature or a cruise, or because they have relatives there.

PS: Many of those Asian tourists you see might be us. 40-50% of Vancouverites are of Asian descent.

There are tour buses full of Chinese from BC that are bused down (usually around the Holidays) to the Woodburn Outlet Malls just south of Portland -- apparently those tours also include lodging & sightseeing too! I'd suspect that the other Asian tourists that are seen around here are either relatives/friends of the Asian community already established here or from places like California & Hawaii but I could be completely wrong.

[Prahaboheme]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

Are you freaking serious? I can't tell whether you're joking or just colossally ignorant.

I wouldn't consider your observations regarding tourists of LA to be profound wisdom. In fact, it's downright silly to suggest that tourists are in "holding pens" especially in a sprawling metropolis such as Southern Cal.

Let's just relax and respect the opinions of others.

[McBane]

What's with tourists in pretty much every city bypassing local restaurants and shops to patronize TGI Fridays and Macy's? You come to Philly (or NYC) and want to eat at the Olive Garden? Are you friggin kidding me? Otherwise, tourists are great for the economy!