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.
Canada (10, 108, 302 visitors) – 9% decline
Mexico (3,308,779) – 9.9% decline
United Kingdom (2,149,149) – 16.9% decline
Japan (1,564,441) – 17.6% decline
Germany (921,874) – 7.5% decline
France (694,340) – 1.1% decline
Brazil (469, 985) – a slight increase
South Korea (415,509) – 12% decline
Italy (379, 641) – 4% decline
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.
Each Friday I will be featuring the top travel stories that appeared on tripwolf.com’s blog this past week. If you are indeed hungry for travel, be sure to check out tripwolf.com.
Picture above is a typical Korean meal. All of this goodness cost less than $20 US. Yum Yum!
* Guest blogger Jason Di Vece from the website Pack You Knives And Go describes (and devours) a typical Korean meal.
* As you know from reading my site, tripwolf sent me on a great adventure to the Twilight Football Games. Well now you can check out some of their favorite pictures from all seven of the worldwide matches.
* Still hungry from that Korean article? Then click here for a great piece on how to make the Vietnamese dish of lemongrass beef on cool noodles.
* What exactly is TheIndiaTube.com? To learn more about this site, tripwolf sat down with the online magazine’s editor for a little Q and A.
Still hungry for more travel insight? Then check out tripwolf’s blog.
Today is “09-09-09″, and while that may be catchy enough, it has also been dubbed “Beatles Day.” The reason behind the nickname is because the Fab Four’s entire music catalog is being re-released starting today in proper CD digital format. So that means you can get a hold of all the legendary British band’s popular hits ranging from “A Hard Day’s Night” to “Yesterday” and all songs in between in crystal clear quality.
In honor of The Beatles, which just so happens to be one of my favorite bands, I thought I would showcase some of the more infamous destinations that John, Paul, George, and Ringo frequented when they were rocking around the world. Groovy.
The Beatles made the Cavern Club famous, playing nearly 300 shows between February 1961 and August 1963 in the cellar club on tiny Mathew Street in downtown Liverpool. The original Cavern Club closed in 1973 and unfortunately demolished. However, a reconstructed Cavern Club opened a decade later, built to the specifications of the original and occupying part of the original site. It is now a major tourist attraction and still a venue for local bands.
Liverpool, England: Well duh. Of course any list of Beatles destinations would have to start with where the band got started. This English town is still crazy for their most popular residents 40 plus years after they formed. All members of the Beatles grew up in Liverpool, and if you visit that is a fact you will soon realize.
Almost all of the streets, pubs, and churches have Beatles references next to them. Every July they celebrate “Beatles Day” and just one month later the the party continues with August’s “International Beatles week.”
Help! I need somebody…to snap a quick pic of me walking across the street.
London, England: Our next stop on The Beatles world tour is just 200 or so miles away from Liverpool. London is easily the most popular city in all of England and where The Beatles recorded most of their work. One street in particular has been a “must cross” destination for Beatles fanatics for centuries.
Abbey Road Crossing, which is where Abbey Road studios is located, was used on the cover of the last Beatles album. Since that time visitors have imitated the infamous pose, causing the ultimate photo op and traffic nightmare in the process. Many locals driving down the street must be careful as to not hit faux Beatles as they strut across the road.
Some famous faces like The Simpsons and Red Hot Chili Peppers have paid honor to the band with their own version of the album cover. Abbey Road studio is still popular to this day for producing music from the likes of Pink Floyd and Radiohead, as well as scores for such blockbuster movies as Lord of the Rings and Batman.
The St. Pauli Landungsbrücken, part of the Hamburg Harbour, in Hamburg, Germany.
Hamburg, Germany: The Fab Five (Pete Best was the infamous fifth member of the band in the early days before being fired by the original four because they simply did not like him) honed their skills at many clubs in the early 1960s in the city of Hamburg. Hot spots like the Top Ten Club were buzzing with Beatlemania until they were booted from Germany after it was found out that George was hanging out at clubs underage. Today the city of Hamburg is home to nearly 2 million residents and is sixth-largest city in the European Union. Hamburg is also known for being a major port city and transportation hub in Germany.
Room #702 of the Amsterdam Hilton was the locale of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s peaceful honeymoon.
Amsterdam, Netherlands: After tying the knot, John Lennon and Yoko Ono honeymooned in this popular European city. If you listen to the lyrics of “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” Mr. Imagine even mentions the lodge where he stayed (Amsterdam Hilton) with his new wife for a week to “get him some peace.” Their stay was peaceful – but in a different way. Both used their fame to garner some media attention to promote peace in the world. It worked as several reporters showed up to interview to duo.
The suite at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Loving the attention that their “Bed-In For Peace” received in Europe, John Lennon and Yoko decided to perform the same stunt in the United States. However, the government did not allow Lennon to enter due to a previous drug conviction. Some believe that President Richard Nixon had a personal vendetta against the rocker due to his extremely liberal views and used the issue to bar Lennon from entering.
So “Plan B” was to head up north to Canada, Montreal in particular, where he was welcomed with open arms. It was on June 1, 1969 in suite #1742 of the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth that “Give Peace A Chance” was recorded by the Beatle. Lennon did not sing the tune alone, as Yoko and the media joined him in an impromptu jam session.
Washington, DC: Just two days after arriving in the United States and performing on the Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles performed their first U.S. concert to thousands of screeching fans at the Washington Coliseum. The date was February 11, 1964 and the show easily sold out.
The venue still stands today, however it is used as an indoor parking garage. The ticket price to see the Fab Four for this historic show? Four dollars! That is far less than the convenience fees we see added to today’s concerts.
The Beatles take the stage for the last time in front of an audience at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.
San Francisco, CA: It was here that The Beatles performed their final full concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. Although the concert was not professionally recorded and it was decades before the “YouTube Generation,” some of the show was actually captured on film by a 15-year old fan in the audience and was even featured in a documentary entitled “The Unseen Beatles.”
Rishikesh, India is widely known for its beautiful landscape and being the place where yoga was invented. It was also here that The Beatles escaped stardom and found some inner-peace.
Rishikesh, India: After being burned out by touring and the entire life that comes along with fame, The Beatles headed to the city of Rishikesh,India for eight weeks in 1968. Known as the birthplace of yoga, all four men spent a week at a Transcendental Meditation course followed by spending time with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at his ashram in the Himalayas. It was here that the Fab Four not only found their “inner peace,” but wrote the lyrics to many songs that would appear on the extremely popular White Album.
Strawberry Fields Forever
New York, New York: After performing a spur of the moment gig high above London on top of the Apple Corps building, the Fab Four would soon split up. For years fans hoped that John, Paul, George, and Ringo would reconcile and tour again. Sadly that was never to be. On the night of December 8, 1980 John Lennon was shot to death by Mark David Chapman right outside of The Dakota in New York City.
For days thousands of fans mourned outside of The Dakota and sang Beatles tunes in unison. Yoko Ono requested that the mourners move away from the building as it was keeping her and son Sean awake at night. They reconvened across the street in Central Park.
The 2.5 acre piece of land named “Strawberry Fields” has become a memorial not only for the legendary Lennon, but it also drew a candlelight vigil days after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and was a place to mourn the passing of rock stars like Jerry Garcia and The Beatles’ George Harrison.
As a freelance writer I am privy to many cool perks when it comes to my job. I set my own schedule, barely ever wake up before 8am (unless I am on assignment) and can take that three way weekend at the last minute if I feel like it. Oh and then there are the real goodies. From reduced and sometimes complimentary travel, to articles written about my website on top media outlets like New York Times & Travelocity. Oh yeah, travel writing as a means for living (or sometimes surviving) in New York is something I particularly enjoy. But one thing I do not get with my gig is health insurance.
Yes, like some estimated 46 million people living in the United States of America, I am without insurance. So when I need to do anything from dental work to blood tests it comes right out of the ol’ nomad piggy bank. I am often puzzled at why such a great country like the U.S.A. is without a universal health plan. I mean shouldn’t my country care about ALL Americans and not just a select few that are “lucky enough” to afford or get insurance through their job?
Well with President Obama in the news a lot lately concerning his plan to overhaul the way in which this country deals with health insurance, I figured that it was the perfect time to talk about a great book that I came across a few weeks ago.
Patients Beyond Borders is a fascinating guide to affordable world-class travel. Well I’m sold. Okay maybe I wasn’t sold that quickly, but after going through this nearly 400 page book, it indeed changed my opinion about getting medial procedures done outside my country.
I must admit that I have had work done overseas. While on my last trip to Poland, which is well known for it’s amazing dentistry, I had some work done at an insanely high tech, super clean, and very professional dentist office. I was blown away with some of the gadgets this dentist was packing. Stuff that would make my dentist back in the States drool. After I had all of my work done it costs me about $325 (roughly 1,100 Polish zloty)! The same procedure would have cost me easily $3,000 back in the United States.
Now this is not a bash USA article, as I am a true blue American that loves my country and would not want to live anywhere else. It is just that I am frustrated with the way my government has dropped the ball and mistreated so many hard working citizens. They have turned their citizen’s health into big business.
What makes author Josef Woodman’s Patients Beyond Borders so enjoyable, and why I think you need to pick up a copy, is that not only is it informative and very well put together, but it is also an extremely easy and enjoyable read. This is not some boring and dry medical book. Some interesting features in the guide include:
This completely revised book provides information on the world’s best international hospitals and clinics. Patients Beyond Borders locates the top overseas hospitals, including fully American-accredited clinics in 21 countries.
By reading this book, you can save anywhere from 30-80% on most medical procedures.
Assist you with working with health travel agents.
A comprehensive “Do’s and Don’ts” for successful and safe medical travel.
Provides readers with a helpful hospital & treatment finder.
10 must-ask questions for your in-country MD.
If you think getting medical work done overseas is right for you, this guide will show you how to plan & budget your trip.
.
Here are just some of the interesting notes that I learned while reading Patients Beyond Borders:
Currently, at least 28 countries on four continents cater to the international health traveler, with more than 2 million patients visiting hospitals and clinics each year in countries other than their own.
Governments of countries such as India and Thailand have poured billions of dollars into improving their health care systems, which are now aggressively catering to the international health traveler.
Some of the most-traveled health destinations include Mexico, India, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Panama, Costa Rica, Antigua, Barbados, Hungary, Turkey, Jordan, and United Arab Emirates.
Some or all of your travel expenses may be tax deductible. This of course depends on your income level and cost of treatment.
.
To pick up a copy of Josef Woodman’s all new revised and expanded edition of Patients Beyond Borders, visit their website by clicking here. You can also tweet with Mr. Woodman at @JosefWoodman.
Overheard on an old Delta reservations phone call: Really? You don't sound like a "Bob from Omaha"...you sure you are from Nebraska? Huh? What did you say?
After years of complaints by annoyed U.S. travelers, Delta has done away with outsourcing reservation calls to India. Customers main complaint about calling the customer service representatives at Delta was pretty straightforward…they couldn’t understand them!
According to the Associated Press, “the world’s biggest airline operator is in the process of bringing all customer calls back in-house in the U.S.” Delta’s CEO Richard Anderson, who made the public announcement about nixing India operators, said it best, “The customer acceptance of call centers in foreign countries is low, and our customers are not shy about letting us have that feedback.”
Congratulations to the hundreds of people that spoke up and let their voices be heard. Maybe we should start an airlines customer complaint group, where we go from company to company screaming and yelling over the phone and via e-mail. I’ll get started on the official ACCG shirts.
