America's Top Tourist Destinations
Memorial Day arrives in just over a month and, with it, prime travel season. If you haven't already booked your tickets, take a look at some of the country's most popular and on-trend vacation spots for inspiration.
2014 Visitors: 4.8M
It can't hold a candle to New York, Vegas or San Francisco when it comes to annual tourists. But the many visitors who do flock to this architecturally and historically rich city leave infatuated enough to consistently rank it near the top of travel magazine satisfaction lists. For instance, Conde Nast Traveler readers named it the top domestic destination for the fourth straight year (and second best in the world, after Florence).The still-booming restaurant scene doesn't hurt. Indeed, some locals gripe that tourists—especially those deboarding cruise ships—are threatening the town's quaint charms.
2014 Visitors: 56.2M
Tourism's economic impact: $61.3B
In typically gruff New York fashion, a tourism board spokesman congratulated Orlando on luring the most visitors last year while boasting about the city's unrivaled preeminence among the overseas crowd. Just over 12M foreigners visited NYC last year, about double Orlando's number. "That is a market that stays longer and spends more money," he said. Looking ahead, a strong dollar may lead to some retraction from the jet set. Yet new attractions in the perennially changing city (including the new Whitney Museum downtown) should overcome economic fluctuations.
The desert city's eight-spot jump to number nine on Travel Advisor's domestic list proves that its appeal continues to extend beyond retirees and trailblazing gay men. The Ace Hotel helped bolster its appeal among the cool kids, as did reports of Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendez scoping out local real estate offerings. Meanwhile, its Rat Pack-era architectural standouts continue to draw connoisseurs. And, of course, the nearby Coachella music and arts festival somehow grows into a bigger cultural force each year.
Pacific Northwest "rival" Portlandia is still generating the bulk of regional buzz. Yet Seattle topped stalwarts including San Francisco and Washington, DC on Trip Advisor's closely watched ranking of domestica vacation destinations. Many fans of the city will be staying near Stewart Street (and Amazon HQ), where a wave of hotels big (Hilton) and small is rushing toward shore.
2014 Visitors: 62M
Orlando's tourism appeal obviously rests on its manifold, manufactured theme parks. But even if the vacation destination Disney built may not be seeing throngs of visitors in anything resembling an actual city, Orlando surpassed even NYC last year with 62M visitors (per the US Travel Association). Harry Potter (at Universal) and a newly buzzing downtown arts district—seriously—are broadening Orlando's appeal beyond the Most Magical Place on Earth. Time will tell if growing controversy over Sea World dents the world amusement capital's reputation.
