Saturday Travel Shot: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Little house at the end of the pier in the Costanera Norte. (Flickr/J)

Tags: argentina, buenos, costanera norte

Who Visits America The Most?

Canadians still visit the United States way more than any other foreign country around the world.

Last week I wrote about how America was voted the “most liked” country in the world. So with so much love for the U.S. going around, one question must be asked. Has the world’s crush on Uncle Sam helped with the country’s tourism? In a word…kinda.

Year after year when the U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Travel & Tourism (OTTI) releases their data of which countries have visited America the most, two destinations continuously top the list – #1 Canada and #2 Mexico. That really should not come as a surprise since both countries sandwich the U.S. and are more easily accessible than any other locations on the planet.

So who else is checking out the streets of New York, the Hollywood hills, and all points in between? Well coming in at #3 is the United Kingdom. Even with a decline of 16.9% in tourism through July 2009, the U.K. is still the most popular visitors from overseas.

Another country that visits often is #4 Japan, which also saw a major decline of 17.6% for year-to-year tourism traffic. Coming in at #5 was Germany, and yes just like the rest of the countries listed, Deutschland saw a 7.5% drop in tourists between July 2008 and 2009.

Now if you are wondering why so many people have halted hauling themselves to the U.S., it is quite simple – the economy. Due to a worldwide economic meltdown over the last year and a half, international tourism is down across the board sharply. Just like many Americans have skipped taking worldwide jaunts in favor of more domestic trips, so has the rest of the world apparently.

To help remedy the continuous decline of foreign visitors, Congress is considering a Travel Promotion Act. In it, anyone that shows up to the United States must pay an additional $10 fee. The money collected would be used to start a travel campaign in various countries around the world to boost interest in visiting the United States.

Currently the Commerce Department is not funding any ad campaigns to promote travel to the States. Yes you read that correctly…no marketing at all! The last time the U.S. was promoted was back in 2007, and even then it only received a measly $4-$9 million dollars. What a joke.

On a positive note, with the economy getting slightly…and I stress slightly better, tourism has picked up a bit and that is always a good thing for any country. Below is a list of the top 20 countries that visited the United States between January and July 2009, the amount of visitors, and how much tourism has decreased from the same time the previous year.

1. Canada (10, 108, 302 visitors) – 9% decline

2. Mexico (3,308,779) – 9.9% decline
   

3. United Kingdom (2,149,149) – 16.9% decline
   

4. Japan (1,564,441) – 17.6% decline
   

5. Germany (921,874) – 7.5% decline

6. France (694,340) – 1.1% decline

7. Brazil (469, 985) – a slight increase

8. South Korea (415,509) – 12% decline

9. Italy (379, 641) – 4% decline

10. Australia (376, 614) – 2.7% decline

The remaining 11-20 include: India, People’s Republic of China, Netherlands, Spain, Venezuela, Ireland, Colombia, Argentina, Switzerland, and Sweden.

Courtesy of Forbes Traveler.

Tags: argentina, australia, brazil, canada, colombia, france, germany, india, ireland, italy, japan, mexico, netherlands, People's Republic of China, south korea, spain, sweden, switzerland, united kingdom, united states of america, Venezuela

Global Game: Twilight Football To Take Place Around The World Tonight

Tags: argentina, australia, brazil, cornwall, england, france, italy, south africa, tintagel castle, venice

Sunday Travel Shot: Iguazu Falls, Argentina

The magnificent Iguazu Falls in Argentina. This spectacular mass of water impressed United States' First Lady so much that upon seeing the falls in person, she exclaimed, "Poor Niagara!"

Tags: argentina, iguazu falls

Hungry For An Amazing Travel Experience? Enter The Sony/TripWolf Twilight Football Competition

The Iguazu Falls in Argentina. Just one of seven locations you might be flown to see in the twilight football competition courtesy of Sony and TripWolf.com

How does attending a twilight football (soccer) game in some faraway locale sound to you? Well Sony has teamed up with TripWolf.com to provide an amazing once in a life time experience for you and a friend this September. So where exactly could you be possibly going?

How about a jaunt to Chamonix, the home of the 1924 Winter Olympics,  in southeast France. Perhaps you fancy a flight down under, with a visit to the Pinnacle Desert in Australia. Well those are just two of the seven destinations available in this unreal contest.

So how do you enter? Simple.

1. Send the guys at TripWolf.com three TripWolf links of places you had the best twilight experiences – with a brief description of why these places had such an impact on you.

AND

2. Find the twilight football which is hidden somewhere on TripWolf.com and send them the link.

Entries must be received by Monday August 17th and winners will be announced on Monday August 24th. To enter and get more information about this contest, click here.

Good luck and if you do win, feel free to e-mail me an invite. Thanks.

Tags: antequera, argentina, australia, cape town, chamonix, football, france, iguazu falls, italy, pinnacle desert, soccer, sony, south africa, spain, tintagel, Travel, tripwolf, twilight football, united kingdom, venice