Sandra Larriva and Gabe Weisert
The top global tourist draws
At first glance, the Forbes Traveler 50 Most Visited Attractions List confirms several tourist industry truisms: A) Americans love to travel, but they prefer to stick within their own borders. B) Wherever Mickey Mouse goes, he conquers. C) Paris is the unofficial cultural theme park of the world. And D) Niagara Falls isn’t just for lovers anymore.
But the list also contains several surprises. Since the Taj Mahal—our fiftieth and final attraction—receives 2.4 million visitors a year, several popular favorites like the the Prado (2 million), the Uffizi (1.6 million), Angkor (1.5 million) and Stonehenge (850,000) didn’t make the cut. And while Western audiences may not be familiar with names like Everland and Lotte World, these South Korean mega-parks managed to rank 16th and 22nd on our list, respectively...
The top global tourist draws
At first glance, the Forbes Traveler 50 Most Visited Attractions List confirms several tourist industry truisms: A) Americans love to travel, but they prefer to stick within their own borders. B) Wherever Mickey Mouse goes, he conquers. C) Paris is the unofficial cultural theme park of the world. And D) Niagara Falls isn’t just for lovers anymore.
But the list also contains several surprises. Since the Taj Mahal—our fiftieth and final attraction—receives 2.4 million visitors a year, several popular favorites like the the Prado (2 million), the Uffizi (1.6 million), Angkor (1.5 million) and Stonehenge (850,000) didn’t make the cut. And while Western audiences may not be familiar with names like Everland and Lotte World, these South Korean mega-parks managed to rank 16th and 22nd on our list, respectively...
Sandra Larriva and Gabe Weisert The top global tourist draws At first glance, the Forbes Traveler 50 Most Visited Attractions List confirms several tou... more
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1
Times Square
New York City, NY
35 million
An estimated 80 percent of the Big Apple’s 44 million visitors head for Broadway (including the considerable theater crowds) and end up gawking at the world’s most garish neon crossroads. Plugging numbers into the equation, we get an estimated total of 35,200,000 per year. Source: Times Square Alliance. For more information: www.timessquarenyc.org/facts/facts_economic.html; www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=57
2
National Mall & Memorial Parks (Washington Monument, Lincoln and
Washington, D.C.
About 25 million
The nation’s premier national park and its monuments and memorials attract more visitors than such vast national parks as the Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone -- combined. The nearby Smithsonian museums of Natural History and Air & Space welcome more than about 5 million visitors apiece. Source: National Park Service For more information: www.nps.gov/nama/newsdesk.si.edu/visits/default.htm
3
Disney World’s Magic Kingdom
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
16.6 million
Florida’s most popular attraction opened on October 1, 1971—16 years after the birth of its older sister, Disneyland, in Anaheim, Calif. Disney doesn’t release attendance figures for its parks, however the TEA/ERA Theme Park Attendance Report confirms that the Magic Kingdom is the most popular of its Florida attractions, followed by Epcot, Disney MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom. A cumulative figure (ie. total number of people who visited the Disney World theme parks) would likely not alter the Mouse’s ranking. Source: TEA/ERA Theme Park Attendance Report 2006 For more information: www.connectingindustry.com/pdfs/TEA-ERAAttendance06.pdf
4
Trafalgar Square
London, England
15 million
Lord Nelson and the British Navy defeated a combined French and Spanish force in 1805, and a grateful country built a splendid public square to commemorate the occasion. Now a popular spot for demonstrations, concerts and New Year's Eve celebrations, Trafalgar Square feeds popular attractions like the National Gallery. Note: This is an estimated figure from the Greater London Authority extrapolated from pedestrian counts. (There are no equivalent estimates for similar locations as Beijing's Tiananmen and Moscow's Red Square. However, the tourism industry is not yet as developed in either China or Russia as in the West.) Source: Greater London Authority. For more information: https://www.london.gov.uk/
5
Disneyland Park
Anaheim, Calif.
14.7 million
Open since 1955, the grand dame of the Disney parks continues to be the top tourist attraction draw in California, even though it occupies a much smaller area than its Florida sister. Almost all the international Disney parks dominate the country in which they’re located. TEA/ERA Theme Park Attendance Report 2006. For more information: www.connectingindustry.com/pdfs/TEA-ERAAttendance06.pdf
6
Niagara Falls
Ontario and New York
14 million
It might not be the tallest of its kind (Venezuela’s Angel Falls are the world’s highest at 3,212 ft.), but this tumbler’s location straddling two countries, breathtaking views and of course the romance and honeymoon factor account for nearly 14 million visitors every year. Source: The City of Niagara Falls. For more information: www.niagarafalls.ca/business/business_profile/pdf/tourist_economic_stats.pdf
7
Fisherman’s Wharf/Golden Gate National Recreation Area
San Francisco, Calif.
13 million
Approximately 13 million annual visitors to the heart of San Francisco, its legendary soaring bridge and surrounding park, plus its bustling fish-and-chowder pier, helping to account for the city’s worldwide appeal. (San Francisco is usually cited as the first or second U.S. city foreigners say they want to visit.) Our figures come from the fact that 14.6 million visitors visit SF per year, and almost all show up at the wharf and the bridge. Sources: Tourism bureau, National Park System, and CNN. For more information: www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/9703/san.fran/offbeat/index.html; www.fishermanswharf.org; www.nps.gov/goga/parkmgmt/statistics.htm; www.sfcvb.org/media/downloads/travel_media/sf_facts.pdf
8
Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea
Tokyo, Japan
12.9 million
Continuing the Disney rout, the first of its parks to have opened outside the U.S.in 1983, the Tokyo Disney Resort includes both the hugely popular Disneyland and its waterworld partner, DisneySea. Again, no firm numbers on attendance duplication, but a trade publication puts the figure at a pretty specific 12.9 million. Source: TEA-ERA Attendance Report. For more information: www.connectingindustry.com/pdfs/TEA-ERAAttendance06.pdf
9
Notre Dame de Paris
Paris, France
12 million
The world’s most familiar Gothic cathedral is France’s main attraction (and not Disney Paris, reputed to be Europe’s top draw). The number of visitors is carefully noted by the Parisian tourist association, and reputedly does not include a certain Victor Hugo back-challenged character. Source: Office du Tourisme et des Congrès. For more information: https://en.parisinfo.com/IMG/pdf/CP_frq_culturelle_2005.pdf
10
Disneyland Paris
Marne-La-Vallee, France
10.6 million
Formerly Euro Disney, this French amusement park is well past its struggling early years. With 10,600,000 visitors in 2006, Disneyland Paris is France’s second most visited tourist attraction. Source: TEA-ERA Attendance Report. For more information: https://www.connectingindustry.com/pdfs/TEA-ERAAttendance06.pdf
[source: https://www.forbestraveler.com/best-lists/most-visited-tourist-attractions-story.html ]
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