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

Saturday Travel Shot: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

The winning city that will host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Sorry Chicago!

Tags: 2016 olympics, brazil, rio de janeiro

An Olympic Size Giveaway

Tokyo, Japan is one of the final four cities that could be announced the host of the 2016 Olympics this week.

Chicago…Madrid…Rio de Janeiro…Tokyo. All four locales are absolutely amazing cities that pretty much any traveler would love to visit on their next trip. They are also the final four nominees vying to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

So how would you like to visit one of these desirable destinations for free? One lucky twerson…er I mean person will be chosen by Where Ive Been and flown round-trip to one of the aforementioned cities, for what is sure to be an extremely memorable vacation.

Here is how you can compete in the “Where I’ve Been Olympic Twitter Giveaway.”

1. Follow Where I’ve Been (@whereivebeen) on Twitter.
2. A message will be posted by @whereivebeen at 9am CT on Thursday, October 1st. Tune in and RE-TWEET THAT MESSAGE!

Winner will be selected at random & announced on the @whereivebeen Twitter page on Friday, October 2nd.

If you are the chosen one, you must direct message @whereivebeen within 24-hours of the announcement with the city you want to visit (Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, or Tokyo). Good luck!

Tags: asia, brazil, chicago, europe, illinois, japan, Madrid, rio de janeiro, south america, spain, tokyo, Travel, united states, whereivebeen.com

New Routes Coming Soon To An Airport Near You

Overhead view of Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. This November both Virgin America and JetBlue will debut here within a 24-hour span.

Some people get all worked up over the new fall season of television shows premiering, certain individuals get excited about a new motion picture hitting the silver screen, while others might get overstimulated by the combination of baseball playoffs and the return of the NFL football. But yours truly could care less about all of those distractions. Why? Because the announcement of new airline routes tops them all. While my wife (and a few of you) may think I am a loon for caring so much about the debut of new itineraries at airports, I just can not help myself.

Living in such a busy area like New York, with major airports like JFK, Newark, and La Guardia, I guess you can say that I have pretty much every city in the world available at my fingertips. But what I look for is an airline adding service to my area. My reaction to the news of Southwest debuting at La Guardia a few months ago was easily comparable to a sports fanatic finding out that his beloved team just acquired the number one draft pick or received a great new pitcher as a result of a multi-team trade. Yeah pretty pathetic, but I admit to being a 100% “Grade A” travel nerd.

But that doesn’t make me a bad person does it? Well I do get some rather odd looks from the wife when all I can talk about over dinner is how JetBlue is now jetting to the Caribbean and Virgin America is possibly thinking of flying in and out of Chicago soon. In any event, here are some new airline routes debuting within the next few months. Enjoy.

JetBlue:

• Barbados (BGI) and New York (JFK) starts October 1, 2009
• Saint Lucia (UVF) and New York (JFK) starts October 26, 2009
• Kingston, Jamaica (KIN) and New York (JFK) starts October 30, 2009
• Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and San Francisco (SFO) starts November 17, 2009

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Virgin America:

• Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and San Francisco (SFO) starts November 18, 2009
• Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Los Angeles (LAX) starts November 18, 2009

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Southwest Airlines:

• Milwaukee (MKE) and Tampa Bay (TPA) starts November 1, 2009
• Milwaukee (MKE) and Phoenix (PHX) starts November 1, 2009
• Milwaukee (MKE) and Orlando (MCO) starts November 1, 2009
• Milwaukee (MKE) and Kansas City (KCI) starts November 1, 2009
• Milwaukee (MKE) and Baltimore (BWI) starts November 1, 2009
• Denver (DEN) and Reno/Lake Tahoe (RNO) starts January 10, 2010
• Denver (DEN) and Spokane (GEG) starts January 10, 2010
• Denver (DEN) and Boston (BOS) starts January 10, 2010

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United Airlines:

• San Francisco (SFO) and Kansas City (KCI) starts October 25, 2009
• Chicago (ORD) and Duluth (DLH) starts December 17, 2009
• Chicago (ORD) and Asheville (AVL) starts December 17, 2009
• Denver (DEN) and Midland/Odessa (MAF) starts December 17, 2009
• Denver (DEN) and Louisville (SDF) starts December 17, 2009

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American Airlines:

• Miami (MIA) and Charleston (CHS) starts November 19, 2009
• Miami (MIA) and Knoxville (TYS) starts November 19, 2009
• Miami (MIA) and Treasure Cay, Bahamas (TCB) starts November 19, 2009
• Miami (MIA) and Governors Harbour, Bahamas (GHB) starts November 19, 2009
• Miami (MIA) and Eleuthers, Bahamas (ELH) starts November 19, 2009
• Los Angeles (LAX) and Santa Fe (SAF) starts November 19, 2009

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Continental Airlines:

• Houston (IAH) and Edmonton, AB Canada (YEG) starts November 1, 2009
• Houston (IAH) and Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) starts November 1, 2009
• Houston (IAH) and Washington DC (IAD) starts November 1, 2009
• Cleveland (CLE) and Washington DC (IAD) starts November 1, 2009
• Honolulu (HNL) and Guam (GUM) to Nadi, Fiji (NAN) starts November 1, 2009

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Delta Airlines:

• Memphis (MEM) and West Palm Beach (PBI) starts December 17, 2009
• Philadelphia (PHL) and Paris, France (CDG) starts October 5, 2009
• Atlanta (ATL) and Brasilia (BSB) starts December 17, 2009
• Atlanta (ATL) and Fortaleza (FOR) starts December 21, 2009
• New York (JFK) and Kingston, Jamaica (KIN) starts December 12, 2009
• New York (JFK) and Freeport, Bahamas (FPO) starts December 18, 2009
• New York (JFK) and Puerto Plata, DR (POP) starts December 19, 2009
• Detroit (DTW) and Punta Cana, DR (PUJ) starts November 21, 2009
• Minneapolis (MSP) and Punta Cana, DR (PUJ) starts December 19, 2009
• Cincinnati (CVG) and Punta Canada, DR (PUJ) starts December 19, 2009

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AirTran Airways:

• Atlanta (ATL) and Aruba (AUA) starts December 19, 2009
• Orlando (MCO) and Aruba (AUA) starts February 13, 2010
• Orlando (MCO) and Key West (EYW) starts December 17, 2009
• Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Harrisburg (MDT) starts November 5, 2009
• Milwaukee (MKE) and Pittsburgh (PIT) starts October 6, 2009
• Milwaukee (MKE) and Indianapolis (IND) starts October 6, 2009
• Baltimore (BWI) and Indianapolis (IND) starts October 6, 2009
• Baltimore (BWI) and New Orleans (MSY) starts October 6, 2009
• Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Flint (FNT) starts November 4, 2009

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US Airways:

• Phoenix (PHX) and Montego Bay (MBJ) December 17, 2009
• Philadelphia (PHL) and Barbados (BGI) starts October 1, 2009
• Charlotte (CLT) and Honolulu (HNL) starts December 17, 2009
• Charlotte (CLT) and Rio de Janeiro (GIG) starts December 15, 2009

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Alaska Airlines:

• Atlanta (ATL) and Seattle (SEA) starts October 23, 2009
• Oakland (OAK) and Kahului (OGG) starts November 9, 2009
• Oakland (OAK) and Kona (KOA) starts November 10, 2009
• Portland (PDX) and Chicago (ORD) starts November 16, 2009

Tags: airtran airways, american airlines, aruba, atlanta, baltimore, brazil, california, colorado, continental airlines, delta, Denver, detroit, dominican republic, florida, fort lauderdale, georgia, indianapolis, jamaica, jetblue, jfk airport, key west, kingston, los angeles, maryland, memphis, michigan, milwaukee, minneapolis, minnesota, new york, orlando, san francisco, southwest airlines, spokane, tennessee, united airlines, virgin america, washington, west palm beach, wisconsin

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

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