# The World's Top Tourism Destinations(2004)



## london-b (Jul 31, 2004)

DonQui said:


> Spain = Impressive Cities = Tourist.
> 
> That's an important part of the equation.


What I'm about to say may be wrong, but I think most peopel visit for the coast, at least most Brits. Though I would love to visit some spanish cities


----------



## gonzo (Jul 30, 2006)

I believe Spain is more popular among Europeans while Americans visit Italy in larger numbers than they do Spain.

...perhaps because they view Spain as too similar to nearby Mexico.


----------



## oduguy1999 (Jul 27, 2004)

gonzo said:


> I believe Spain is more popular among Europeans while Americans visit Italy in larger numbers than they do Spain.
> 
> ...perhaps because they view Spain as too similar to nearby Mexico.



well that just proves american ignorance, because they are about as alike as rice and spaghetti.


----------



## DonQui (Jan 10, 2005)

gonzo said:


> I believe Spain is more popular among Europeans while Americans visit Italy in larger numbers than they do Spain.
> 
> *...perhaps because they view Spain as too similar to nearby Mexico.*


----------



## Slodi (Feb 25, 2006)

eemreee said:



> I'm surprised Poland is in Top 15 not Japan or Russia...
> But that list is for 2004,lots of things changed .


Yep, for better!!!


----------



## panamaboy9016 (Mar 29, 2006)

*More than the U.S....*



SunnyDeol said:


> i cant beleive spain is number 2 ahead of the US, whats in spain to see?????


I'm surprised it's not number one in the world. Spain has Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Pamplona, Bilbao, Zaragoza as the touristic cities. Spain also has in my opinion the largest gothic city in the world, Barcelona. Spain has history dating back more than 1,000 years ago. Spain has beautiful beaches, and women. One of the most famous painters of all-time, Pablo Picasso's pieces of art are there. Guernica, one of the most beautiful and interesting paintings you'll ever see is located in Madrid. In my opinion, France should not be #1, and Spain should. You should start looking up some stats so that you see that Spain has a lot more to offer than the United States. The U.S. deserves to be #3. I think it should stay there for life, actually it will.


----------



## gonzo (Jul 30, 2006)

We're talking about only international tourism. Correct?

Because if one were to combine international with domestic, I _imagine_ the U.S tourism figures would be higher than Spain.



> ...perhaps because they view Spain as too similar to nearby Mexico.


Just to make one thing clear, _I_ don't think Spain and Mexico are similar....I'm half latin american and I've spent a summer in Madrid/Zaragoza and have visited Mexico.


----------



## panamaboy9016 (Mar 29, 2006)

*You got it wrong,*



gonzo said:


> We're talking about only international tourism. Correct?
> 
> Because if one were to combine international with domestic, I _imagine_ the U.S tourism figures would be higher than Spain.
> 
> Just to make one thing clear, _I_ don't think Spain and Mexico are similar....I'm half latin american and I've spent a summer in Madrid/Zaragoza and have visited Mexico.


He said that some of the people in the United States think that Spain and Mexico have large similarities, but they really don't.


----------



## gonzo (Jul 30, 2006)

^^Yes, I was quoting myself. I just wanted to make clear that I was wasn't expresing _my_ personal beliefs on the matter.

..excuse the confusion.


----------



## panamaboy9016 (Mar 29, 2006)

*Oh,*



gonzo said:


> ^^Yes, I was quoting myself. I just wanted to make clear that I was wasn't expresing _my_ personal beliefs on the matter.
> 
> ..excuse the confusion.


Ok nevermind, I thought it was someone else. My bad. Yeah I understand now.


----------



## Petroshky (Dec 1, 2005)

Top 20 of the World's Top Tourism Destinations from the World Tourism Organization (WTO). 

1. France 
2. Spain 
3. United States 
4. China 
5. Italy 
6. United Kingdom 
7. Hong Kong (China) 
8. Mexico 
9. Germany 
10. Austria 
11. Canada 
12. Turkey 
13. Malaysia 
14. Ukraine 
15. Poland 
16. Greece 
17. Hungary 
18. Thailand 
19. Portugal 
20. Netherlands

See also: http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/wtb.html


----------



## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

SunnyDeol said:


> i cant beleive spain is number 2 ahead of the US, whats in spain to see?????


I know you're a noob, but you really have made some of the most idiotic posts I've ever seen on ssc

You should travel more :yes:

Don't forget that Spain (which includes the Balearics and Canaries as well as the Costas on the mainland) is the #1 destination for Northern Europeans (Brits, Germans, Dutch, Scandinavians) looking for year-round sun.

Add to that probably the trendiest city in Europe (Barcelona) and a booming capital (Madrid), plus plenty to see in other cities like Granada, Seville, Valencia etc.

I'm actually surprised that France is higher than Spain, considering its not really much of a 'package' holiday destination. I'd presume a very large proportion is city breaks to Paris by other Europeans.

Hong Kong holds its own amazingly well considering its a mere city, but I suppose a large proportion of visitors are mainland Chinese?


----------



## z0rg (Jan 17, 2003)




----------



## Poly_Technique (Aug 22, 2005)

*Tourist Destinations*










In 2003, 665 million international tourist trips were made. Dividing this by the world population would mean 10.7% holidayed abroad. However some people make multiple trips, so less than a tenth of the global population make tourist trips abroad.

Western Europe is the most popular destination for international tourists. The region receives 46% of world tourist trips. At the other extreme 0.1% of world tourist trips are made to Central African territories.

As a tourist destination Andorra receives 45 visits per person in the population, per year. The equivalent figures for Monaco and the Bahamas are 7 and 5, respectively.


----------



## SLIMI-PL (Dec 8, 2005)

eemreee said:


> I'm surprised Poland is in Top 15 not Japan or Russia...
> But that list is for 2004,lots of things changed .
> And I am surprised again by seeing that Austria is ahead of Turkey in 2004 !


I think Poland will be rise in rankings in next years just take a look at Krakow at the growth of incoming tourists year after year...


----------



## Giorgio (Oct 9, 2004)

Top 25:

1.	France 77.0 75.0 75.1 0.1% 9.8%
2.	Spain	52.3 51.8 53.6 3.4 7.0
3.	United States	43.6 41.2 46.1 11.8 6.0
4.	China	36.8 33.0 41.8 26.7 5.5
5.	Italy	39.8 39.6 37.1 –6.4 4.9
6.	United Kingdom	24.2 24.7 27.8 12.3 3.6
7.	Hong Kong (China)	16.6 15.5 21.8 40.4 2.9
8.	Mexico	19.7 18.7 20.6 10.5 2.7
9.	Germany	18.0 18.4 20.1 9.5 2.6
10.	Austria	18.6 19.1 19.4 1.5 2.5
11.	Canada	20.1 17.5 19.2 9.2 2.5
12.	Turkey	12.8 13.3 16.8 26.1 2.2
13.	Malaysia	13.3 10.6 15.7 48.5 2.1
14.	Ukraine	10.5 12.5 15.6 24.9 2.0
15.	Poland	14.0 13.7 14.3 4.2 1.9
16.	Greece	14.2 14.0 —	—	—
17. Hungary	—	—	12.2 —	1.6
18.	Thailand	10.9 10.0 11.7 16.5 1.5
19.	Portugal	11.6 11.7 11.6 –0.8 1.5
20.	Netherlands	9.6 9.2 9.6 5.1 1.3
21.	Russian Federation	7.9 8.5 9.2 7.5 1.2
22.	Saudi Arabia	7.5 7.3 8.6 17.0 1.1
23.	Macao (China)	6.6 6.3 8.3 31.9 1.1
24.	Croatia	6.9 7.4 7.9 6.8 1.0
25.	Ireland	6.5 6.8 7.0 3.2 0.9


----------



## Metropolitan (Sep 21, 2004)

Tubeman said:


> I'm actually surprised that France is higher than Spain, considering its not really much of a 'package' holiday destination. I'd presume a very large proportion is city breaks to Paris by other Europeans.


Okay, in excluding Paris and the overseas departments... what remains...


*Cultural sites*

Mont Saint-Michel












Saint-Malo












Châteaux de la Loire












La Rochelle












Carcassonne












Bonifacio













*Natural sites*

Mont-Blanc












Gorges du Verdon












Corsica












Auvergne













Vosges













*Summer destinations*

Bassin d'Arcachon













Landes













Biarritz













La Ciotat













Var













Cannes













Santa Giulia













Brittany













Ile de Ré













*Winter destinations*

Val d'Isère













3 Vallées













Font-Romeu (Pyrenees)












Okay I'll probably stop here.


----------



## Metropolitan (Sep 21, 2004)

Sorry about last post. My point was certainly not to flood this thread with images. I simply didn't know how to better pictured the touristic diversity in France. And actually, I've strongly selected the images... I'm far to show everything France can offer.


----------



## PANZOTA (May 1, 2006)

rotten777 said:


> At this rate, China will surpass the US in Tourism...
> 
> Canadians and Mexicans are not counted because of not having to come here without a passport, no?


I DONT KNOW ABOUT CANADIANS BUT MEXICANS NEED A PASSPORT AND A VISA (PERMIT FROM THE USA) TO VISIT THE COUNTRY "AMERICA"


----------



## Metropolitan (Sep 21, 2004)

Panzota, there's no need to post in capital letters.

What is sure though is that needing a passport is far to be a criteria as Europeans don't need any to visit most of the continent.


----------



## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

bitxofo said:


> ^^That city is in México, and its name is Guanajuato.
> 
> It is NOT Spain!!
> :wink2:


well, it was Spain 250 years ago before Mexican independance!!


----------



## Facial (Jun 21, 2004)

Every country deserves their place.


----------



## DonQui (Jan 10, 2005)

SuomiPoika said:


> The list shows how many million tourists that visited each country in 2006.
> 
> Under the list is just some interesting facts about how many tourists Europe received in 2000 and the percentage of those tourists compared to the total amout of tourists in the world.


As we have already said, you benefit from geographical proximity. Hence why the tourists numbers are so high. You go 250 km in most of Europe you are in a new country, hence why international visits are so high. 

Although, having visited Europe three times and potentially going a fourth time, I will admit that there is much to see there.


----------



## panamaboy9016 (Mar 29, 2006)

*Yeah,*



SuomiPoika said:


> The stats for 2006:
> 
> 1. France 75 million tourists
> 2. Spain 51.8 mil
> ...


But us here in the America's are cooler! Oh yeah! What I don't understand is why schools in the United States teach kids that there are 2 separate continents, North and South America. What I learned was this, North America was Canada, United States, Mexico and Bermuda. Central America was the 7 nations, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, the Caribbean was Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Jamaica etc., and South Amercia was Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. And all of them put together formed teh great continent of America.


----------



## ROYU (Jul 19, 2004)

Well is obvios that Europe receive such number of tourist. Is the most amazing continent on this planet or maybe for what I have seen. But some countries of the rest of the world are not so visited, because they are not promoted.


----------



## DonQui (Jan 10, 2005)

panamaboy9016 said:


> But us here in the America's are cooler! Oh yeah! What I don't understand is why schools in the United States teach kids that there are 2 separate continents, North and South America. What I learned was this, North America was Canada, United States, Mexico and Bermuda. Central America was the 7 nations, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, the Caribbean was Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Jamaica etc., and South Amercia was Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. And all of them put together formed teh great continent of America.


Not this debate again. -_-

If you really want to be technical, then Europe should not be a separate continent from Asia, but just a subcontinent like India. In theory, given that the Suez Canal only artificially separates Africa from Asia, that Asia, Europe, and Africa should be one continent.

:|


----------



## Mekky II (Oct 29, 2003)

Indonesians seem to not go a lot to Australia... Maybe australians fear to be invaded on other hand lol


----------



## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

AcesHigh said:


> well, it was Spain 250 years ago before Mexican independance!!


We are talking about nowadays!


----------



## Metropolitan (Sep 21, 2004)

DonQui said:


> As we have already said, you benefit from geographical proximity. Hence why the tourists numbers are so high. You go 250 km in most of Europe you are in a new country, hence why international visits are so high.
> 
> Although, having visited Europe three times and potentially going a fourth time, I will admit that there is much to see there.


Actually, I think SuomiPolka wondered how many tourists Europe _as a whole_ receives each year, which means _without_ counting intra-European tourists.

I also think that would be interesting but unfortunately I haven't found any figures yet. The only thing I'm sure of according to the informations I got is that a minimum of 50 million people from other continents visit Europe each year.

That figure came from a 1997 graph showing intercontinental tourism traffic. However, all zones weren't represented.


----------



## Metropolitan (Sep 21, 2004)

DonQui said:


> Not this debate again. -_-
> 
> If you really want to be technical, then Europe should not be a separate continent from Asia, but just a subcontinent like India. In theory, given that the Suez Canal only artificially separates Africa from Asia, that Asia, Europe, and Africa should be one continent.
> 
> :|


Well, personally, I think it would be more honnest to count Europe as a subcontinent no different than India... I mean, that's what it is so why pretend it's not the case ?

The funny thing is that Greeks invented continents which came to us with their current names after Romans adapted the terminology. As a result, the Northern shore of the Mediterranean sea was called "Europe", the Eastern shore was called "Asia" and the Southern shore was called "Africa". Originally, continents were nothing else than shores of a small sea.


----------



## ChinaboyUSA (May 10, 2005)

China is and will be a more decisive factor on the world tourism market.


----------



## gonzo (Jul 30, 2006)

^^I don't know....most _educated_ people where I live, Canada, would only have heard of Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

...That's likely to change though, especially in post-Olympic years.


----------



## Liam-Manchester (Dec 29, 2004)

Someone mentioned the fact that some countries on the list have very high tourist figures in relation to their population, which I think is an interesting point. Also you have to consider the ease with which people can travel to the countries. You would think most foreign visitors to the US would arrive by air, as it only has land borders with 2 countries. France, on the other hand has land borders with 5 major countries all with quite large populations, including Germany which has a population of around 80 million, which means there are a lot of people within driving distance of France and it is also easily reachable from the UK by Channel Tunnel or ferry.

You also have to ask how they actually measure the figures. I personally have travelled through France or part of France en route to another country, the countries being Belgium and Spain by road. As I only spent a matter of hours in France and did not actually stay overnight, am I counted as a foreign visitor? I am certain that there are countless others who travel by road from the UK to other European countries, virtually all of which will have to pass through France at some stage. If someone from Germany wants to travel to Spain by road, it's necessary to pass through France.


----------



## Pobbie (Jul 16, 2005)

It also depends on what _kind_ of tourists are coming in. Unfortunately for countries like Spain and Greece, the number of brain-dead, culturally-challenged lager-louts is relatively high.


----------



## DonQui (Jan 10, 2005)

Pobbie Rarr said:


> It also depends on what _kind_ of tourists are coming in. Unfortunately for countries like Spain and Greece, the number of *brain-dead, culturally-challenged lager-louts is relatively high*.


You could have just said "Brits/Germans" and saved yourself the words.


----------



## Pobbie (Jul 16, 2005)

DonQui said:


> You could have just said "Brits/Germans" and saved yourself the words.


That would be absurd... Germans are nothing like that.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

This horse has been flogged WELL beyond death, and into several past lifetimes. Does EVERYTHING here on SSC have to turn into a ***** measuring contest? Sheesh.


----------



## aranetacoliseum (Jun 8, 2005)

i luv spain..especially the barcelona


----------



## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

willo said:


> not true at all. France was a model for all Europe and there's a lot of buildings and quarters that have french influence


geez...funny how well it reads if you would replace the word "France" for "Spain" and "Europe" for "Latin America" or "Ibero-America." 

"Spain was a model for all of Latin America and there's a lot of buildings and quarters that have Spanish influences."

You know, sometimes it helps to reread and rethink what we type in this forum!



*@ Metropolitan*


> Well, honnestly, saying that Spain is similar to Mexico sounds to me as weird as saying that France is similar to Quebec.
> 
> I haven't been to Mexico but after being in Montreal and Quebec City, the least I can say is that French Canada is clearly North American at all points of view. Of course, Quebec has its own obvious specificities, but it is clearly culturally closer to the United States than it is to France.
> 
> ...


I just came back from my 4th and long trip to Montreal which is why I hadn't been back to this thread. I agree with you a lot about French Canada or the Province of Quebec. However, before you find Mexico-similar-to-Spain as weird as Quebec-similar-to-France consider the following points:

1. Compared to Mexico, Quebec saw very little development during its colonial period. Even Montreal, the biggest city, was very small and consisted mainly of what is today Old Montreal. It wasn't until the late 1700s, while the British had control of Montreal (and the rest of Quebec), that Montreal grew significantly, and the city grew even more during the Industrial Era, when English-speakers from English-Canada moved there in great numbers. Consequently, Montreal took on a very English-look, as well as a very American urban and suburban look, inherited by neighboring English-Canada and the U.S. And rural Quebec took on a very American rural look. Did you notice how much Victorian architecture exists there? Indeed, France had much less influence there that can often be imagined, which shouldn't be a surprise if you consider that France lost interest in that colony from the beginning. On the otherhand, there seems to be more French or French-influenced cuisine in Montreal than Spanish cuisine in Mexico City, so there the indigineous culture did play a much bigger role in defining Mexican cuisine, however, I believe that a lot of Montréal's French restaurants is the result of demand, in which Americans like myself expect to find "Frenchness," and Montreal has responded since it makes money and more deep Quebec cuisine is stuff like corn, potpies, gravies (like in neighboring USA) and stuff like that which doesn't seem to appeal very much to even quebecers...in otherwords, I think that with money and prosperity to Quebec came the abundance of French restaurants (as in from France).

2. Mexico on the otherhand, saw a lot of development in its historic centers and immediate surrounding areas. Even with huge indigineous populations, Mexican cities and rural areas (i.e. haciendas) took on a very Spanish look during its long colonial period (and virtually zero American look like Quebec did). This is not hard to see if you consider all the indigineous people that were practically enslaved by Spanish and mostly-Spanish mestizo masters/governors/clergymen. Quebec simply didn't have that. And what style did they use? Mexican cities were built in various Spanish colonial styles that changed with time and region, similar yet different enough to styles in Spain...which is infact, distinctly Mexican in most cases. However, indigenous architecture were destroyed in many instances, and it wasn't until well after independence that Mexico was allowed to build with indigeneous influences or that excavations revealed buried indigenous architecture, which was largely prohibited during the colonial period. So unlike Quebec, Mexico was only directly influenced by one European country...Spain (the brief French hold of Mexico placed very minimal influences on that country). Ofcourse, for a long while now, Mexico has been building very American, particularly Northern Mexico i.e. Monterrey, which some of us see as the American-want-to-be Mexican city. 

Finally, I want to remind some members like Adam_Woowei that nobody, including myself, have said here that Mexico looks more like Spain than France looks like Spain. I have, however, suggested that Spain doesn't look anymore like France than it does to Mexico, (which he/she claims) unless its personal perception, which is influenced by culture, and that the only way any of us two can proof any of the two sides is by doing a much more intense and thorough investigation...we would have to look at many many factors. That is why I don't make any claim that suggests certainty, as he/she has. 

And I'm one to think that the pic of Guanajuato looks very Spanish, but a Spaniard my find it only similar to a city in Las Canarias, which I think was the case. In any case, to me that pic of Guanajuato looks more Spanish (obviously not Basque, Galician, etc.) than MOST Spanish cities can look French...but I'm not saying now or ever that it's identical to any Spanish city...I can see the unique Mexican characteristics even in this very-Spanish looking city.

I honestly wonder if there are any preferences here by some Spanish forumers in being associated with a richer, more sophisticated country like France than an ex-colony like Mexico...


----------



## sravan2569 (Mar 22, 2006)

Poland is not ahead of India...


----------



## Plumber73 (Mar 3, 2005)

blaxxxbla said:


> One question guys, wouldn't Hong Kong be China? or why is it posted as a different country?


Good question. Were they re-taken by the Brits? :dunno:


----------



## neorion (May 26, 2006)

According to a survey conducted in 2005 in China, Greece was voted as the number one choice.

[URL="http://www.gradpula.com/c5642/greece_tourism_-_quick_guide/"]source[/URL]

IMO the world's top tourism destination is too difficult to pin down to one locality, but as a region, it would have to be the Mediterranean.


----------



## AdamChobits (Jun 7, 2006)

neorion said:


> According to a survey conducted in 2005 in China, Greece was voted as the number one choice.
> 
> [URL="http://www.gradpula.com/c5642/greece_tourism_-_quick_guide/"]source[/URL]
> 
> IMO the world's top tourism destination is too difficult to pin down to one locality, but as a region, it would have to be the Mediterranean.



Correct. Besides the beacheas, the mediterranean have been home for many civilizations since Humans reached Europe from África.


----------



## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

^^Yes, the Mediterranean region is the most visited in the world!
:yes:


----------



## lukay (Sep 15, 2002)

sravan2569 said:


> Poland is not ahead of India...


wtf???


----------



## olli_ruhr (Aug 17, 2005)

MinimumMaximum said:


> Madrid is de 4th most visited capital in Europe after Paris,London and Rome;there are tourist in inland cities in every season,u shouldnt talk about things u dont know...


hi 

i think i know very well about what i talk. i am a travel agent and i know a lot of lists with the reasons why people visit spain. by the way, i never said that spanish cities are ugly. no, madrid and barcelona are excellent and beautiful cities. but the main reason why EUROPEAN people visit spain is because of the beaches and the good weather conditions. 

and for city break destinations: more german, dutch, brits visit barcelona, rome, amsterdam, prague than madrid for a city break for example. maybe madrid is much more well known for a city break in middle america.


----------



## willo (Jan 3, 2005)

^^Madrid is more visited by italians,brits,japanese and americans


----------



## Peshu (Jan 12, 2005)

willo said:


> ^^Madrid is more visited by italians,brits,japanese and americans



Can you give the source for this such information ? As the vast majority of Italians , Brits and Americans i meet when i travel have been to Barcelona yet i rarely find one that has visited Madrid . When i tell them they should visit Madrid they look at me kind of weird as if to say '' why would i visit Madrid'' ? 
Besides . Do you think that the information given out by certain sources in Spain may be quite inaccurate ? As i can pretty much recall . The few that i have met that have been to Madrid enjoyed the fact that it wasn't as inundated with foreigners like Barcelona . :cheers2:


----------



## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

i love forests more than sea shore.
dream to a large and vast forests with huge trees and many animals.


----------



## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

Plumber73 said:


> Good question. Were they re-taken by the Brits? :dunno:


i am from chinese mainland, i still think hongkong is very far away from our lives. there is no difference for our lives before 1997 or after 1997. hongkong is hongkong herself, we have beijing,shanghai,chengdu,chongqing,guangzhou,shenzhen, those are our own cities.i am proud of these cities.


----------



## AdamChobits (Jun 7, 2006)

oliver999 said:


> i love forests more than sea shore.
> dream to a large and vast forests with huge trees and many animals.


Me too! Most of people here love the beaches and the shore etc...but I prefeer the forests and the mountain!.

My dreamed city is that one with an area of skyscrapers, an area with short, beautiful and elegant european-chinese-korean-japanese buildings and all the city sourronded by a trully deep forest....


----------



## Lee (Jun 2, 2003)

^How about Vancouver?


----------



## gonzo (Jul 30, 2006)

I'd say Guangzhou.


----------



## Peshu (Jan 12, 2005)

Adam_Woowei said:


> Me too! Most of people here love the beaches and the shore etc...but I prefeer the forests and the mountain!.
> 
> My dreamed city is that one with an area of skyscrapers, an area with short, beautiful and elegant european-chinese-korean-japanese buildings and all the city sourronded by a trully deep forest....



Yeaaaaaaaaaaah . But you see . Most cities with beaches also have forests and Mountains . Where as certain other cities may have some forests and mountains but no beaches . No matter how much they dream of having one .


----------



## Gabo (Oct 15, 2005)

anybody have the complete list!!


----------



## gonzo (Jul 30, 2006)

> Yeaaaaaaaaaaah . But you see . Most cities with beaches also have forests and Mountains . Where as certain other cities may have some forests and mountains but no beaches . No matter how much they dream of having one .


In temperate areas, I prefer cities which experience visible snow-capped mountains....this is less common with cities at sea-leavel unless the city is notherly and experiences harsh winters itself.

In tropical areas, I prefer coastal  cities as the world's best beaches are located in the tropics (for reasons I've already in this thread)

I would prefer this lake near Milan...









...than this beach near London...


----------



## willo (Jan 3, 2005)

Peshu said:


> Can you give the source for this such information ? As the vast majority of Italians , Brits and Americans i meet when i travel have been to Barcelona yet i rarely find one that has visited Madrid . When i tell them they should visit Madrid they look at me kind of weird as if to say '' why would i visit Madrid'' ?
> Besides . Do you think that the information given out by certain sources in Spain may be quite inaccurate ? As i can pretty much recall . The few that i have met that have been to Madrid enjoyed the fact that it wasn't as inundated with foreigners like Barcelona . :cheers2:


it's more an actual fact from about 3 years ago. anyway i'm not saying thahan moret italians, brits... visit madrid than barcelona. i'm saying that Madrid is more visited by people from the nationalities i mentioned


----------



## Harkeb (Oct 12, 2004)

Food for thought:

"South Africa is not such a small player in tourism. The country currently receives more international tourists than any other country in the southern hemisphere (followed by Indonesia and Brazil) and is in the top 30 globally. It also ranks 2nd for tourism receipts in the SouthernH. Recently in Britain's Guardian newspaper South Africa came second (after New Zealand) in a poll of which country Britons would most like to visit. 
And in a recent discussion by Britains top travel writers on where to send someone for a once in a lifetime holiday South Africa and Brazil came up streaks ahead of other destinations.
South Africa also consistantly dominates hotel awards, having more in the top 100 than any country apart from the USA."


----------



## Harkeb (Oct 12, 2004)

From USA Today: (What do you know?...I'm just the messenger)
-----
Top Travel Destinations for 2005 are:

The world has discovered, and rediscovered, some new travel destinations over the past year. From the tropical rainforests of Brazil to the tulip fields of the Netherlands, people have started flocking to these hitherto little known travel destinations. For the convenience of those with the wanderlust, 

The top 5 travel destinations of 2006-2007, according to the USA Today and some major travel guides, are: 

1.Netherlands
2.Turkey
3.Brazil
4.Scotland
5.India 

Some of the other notable tourist destinations for 2006 are: 

1.Venezuela
2.Hawaii


----------



## Peshu (Jan 12, 2005)

gonzo said:


> In temperate areas, I prefer cities which experience visible snow-capped mountains....this is less common with cities at sea-leavel unless the city is notherly and experiences harsh winters itself.
> 
> In tropical areas, I prefer coastal  cities as the world's best beaches are located in the tropics (for reasons I've already in this thread)
> 
> ...




I reside in Australia which has beautiful beaches to die for . But you have a point . That lake in Milan is a hell of alot nicer than that ugly as hell beach near London . But then don't take those horrible English beaches as an example . They look like absolute sewers . Yuck .


----------

