Current Events > London is a more popular tourist destination than any US city. Why is that?

(+) Yeah! (+)

DarkFists posted...

You're not wrong, haven't been there myself, but I do think a lot of people take crime rates way too much to heart, I get it, but...yeah

I visited a couple of years ago and didnt feel any less safe than I do in the city where I live, even on the night when I had to go to a reportedly sketchy area.

Probably because its got lots of history. I wouldn't mind visiting London.

London is probably more central to the economy and culture of the UK than any city in the US is relative to the US. The UK has a population of roughly 67 million people, and London metro area is home to around 15 million of them. That's a full 22% of the country's population. Compare that to the NY Metro Area, which, although it has roughly 20 million people, is only around 6% of the country's population (the US has 330 million people).

realnifty1 posted...

A chart presented with no context and data that is 5 years or older, yeah I think misinformation is appropriate here.

Are you at least happy with the topic title that London is a more popular tourist attraction than any US City?

London has the Royal Family. Every other European country has abandoned theirs but London still has Buckingham Palace, a castle that still being used. Plus tourist goes crazy over anything with the Coat of Arms in it.

Blue_Target posted...

Every other European country has abandoned theirs but London still has Buckingham Palace, a castle that still being used.

That isn't true at all. For starters, Norway, Sweden, and Spain still have kings, and that's just the bigger countries.

You won't get mowed down.

SSj4Wingzero posted...

That isn't true at all. For starters, Norway, Sweden, and Spain still have kings, and that's just the bigger countries.

This @Blue_Target

Shishiwakamaru posted...

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-visited-countries

Have you considered that the US is a really big country and unlike most of the countries represented on your list, the #1 most visited city isnt also the capital

A lot of misinformation in this topic.

That's an interesting point. If they corrected for each country's size, would the USA still be in the top three?

SSj4Wingzero posted...

That isn't true at all. For starters, Norway, Sweden, and Spain still have kings, and that's just the bigger countries.

Fair but how often do you hear about their families in a TMZ gossip way?

Questionmarktarius posted...

There's not a lot in the US worth looking at, apart from maybe some giant copper woman in New York that France put there.

Maybe the stone presidents in South Dakota, or a bigass hoop in St Louis, but that's it.

You're so wrong about this, but maybe correct if you just mean tourist trap garbage.

Customs in the US is very unpleasant for foreigners.

Many come once and then decide it's not worth the trouble to ever return.

Tom_Joad posted...

Customs in the US is very unpleasant for foreigners.

Many come once and then decide it's not worth the trouble to ever return.

I didn't think they were all that bad, although I do remember them not understanding the idea of someone not working. There was an elderly west Asian couple ahead of me who (from what I overheard) were financially supported by their children. This is not exactly uncommon in that culture, but that meant that technically they had no income, which seems to be a pretty major red flag for visiting despite them demonstrably having money.

Im guessing Vegas and Orlando round up the US top 3?

Blue_Target posted...

Fair but how often do you hear about their families in a TMZ gossip way?

Back in 2004 when the current king of Spain was just a prince, he married a newscaster. 25 million people watched that wedding in Spain alone, and over a billion worldwide. In the US, we probably hear most about the British royal family because they're also an English-speaking country.

Questionmarktarius posted...

There's not a lot in the US worth looking at, apart from maybe some giant copper woman in New York that France put there.

Maybe the stone presidents in South Dakota, or a bigass hoop in St Louis, but that's it.

Whew. This sure is a post.

Mostly geography. I have a friend in Germany who just casually travelled to London to watch WWE Money in the Bank. Its just way easier to travel to London for people in Europe than it is the US.

Like would someone from Georgia going to New York count as tourism on that chart, or is it only international tourism?

Justin2Krelian posted...

Im guessing Vegas and Orlando round up the US top 3?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_international_visitors

Miami and Vegas are the others followed by LA and Orlando in 4th and 5th respectively.

You could argue that interstate travel could be taken into account which would more than likely increase the ranking of the US entries.

Questionmarktarius posted...

There's not a lot in the US worth looking at, apart from maybe some giant copper woman in New York that France put there.

Maybe the stone presidents in South Dakota, or a bigass hoop in St Louis, but that's it.

Youre trollin right?

Most people I know who come here are fixated on the history and cultural buildings we have. And also the monarchy.

Friends,

Because London has less trumpers then any American City.

drclaeys posted...

Friends,

Because London has less trumpers then any American City.

lol the only reason the UK has less far-right shitheads is because they have less people in general, let's not pretend they're any better than the US in that regard

codey posted...

lol the only reason the UK has less far-right shitheads is because they have less people in general, let's not pretend they're any better than the US in that regard

I don't think we're obssessed with politics as much as the US. Sure we have our own problems with the government, but the US is on a whole other level.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

I don't think we're obssessed with politics as much as the US. Sure we have our own problems with the government, but the US is on a whole other level.

Deffo. I do think we are seeing the US style culture war stuff trying to make it's way over and there is a definite slide to the right wing content in recent years but Brexit aside we're hanging on to our sanity... just.

SHRlKE posted...

Deffo. I do think we are seeing the US style culture war stuff trying to make it's way over and there is a definite slide to the right wing content in recent years but Brexit aside we're hanging on to our sanity... just.

Just for perspectives sake, I've lived in both the UK and US in recent years, and it's pretty much the same with some regional variances. The US news you get is pretty much identical to the UK news we get, it's all distilled to show the most division because that's the only kind of international story that generates enough clicks. So while you're seeing the worst of the US and we're seeing the worst of the UK, the reality is that it's not so bad as any of us think.

Intro2Logic posted...

Hunch: London is just closer to most of the world's populace than New York. It's closer to Europe, to the Middle East, and probably a lot of East Asia, too.

Also it's the one city in England known as a great global destination, where the United States has New York City, Lis Angeles, Miami and Orlando, Las Vegas, Chicago, etc...

London is also a much older and larger city than any thing in the United States.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

I don't think we're obssessed with politics as much as the US. Sure we have our own problems with the government, but the US is on a whole other level.

People keep their politics more to themselves in the UK.

Like, you're never going to see a load of trucks with Boris Johnson flags on them, or front lawns littered with Kier Starmer signs. Political bumper stickers are so rare, I can't remember seeing one. Same with party political t-shirts. Maybe a few students or party workers have them.

You might see a few small posters in windows just before a general election, but that's about it.

Harry Potter

Shadowplay posted...

First thing that popped into my head was that London is far and away the biggest city in the UK. The U.S. has at least three metropolitan areas that are similarly as large.

Also the History in London is fascinating. I've been to the major US historical sites, but the stuff in London is waaayyyyyy older than anything I've seen.

SHRlKE posted...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_international_visitors

Miami and Vegas are the others followed by LA and Orlando in 4th and 5th respectively.

You could argue that interstate travel could be taken into account which would more than likely increase the ranking of the US entries.

Interesting that Miami is that high.

Also, wheres Chicago? Did I miss it?

Justin2Krelian posted...

Interesting that Miami is that high.

Also, wheres Chicago? Did I miss it?

If you order it by Mastercard I think. Different criteria so use whichever one adheres to your biases I guess.

SHRlKE posted...

If you order it by Mastercard I think. Different criteria so use whichever one adheres to your biases I guess.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but what I do that if I just want the stats?

ai123 posted...

People keep their politics more to themselves in the UK.

Like, you're never going to see a load of trucks with Boris Johnson flags on them, or front lawns littered with Kier Starmer signs. Political bumper stickers are so rare, I can't remember seeing one. Same with party political t-shirts. Maybe a few students or party workers have them.

You might see a few small posters in windows just before a general election, but that's about it.

Yeah the US is kind of weird in that respect. We've basically turned political campaigning into a perpetual thing, whereas in most countries, the campaigning season starts a couple of months before the election. We're more than a year away from the 2024 Presidential election and we already have shitbags like DeSantis campaigning for President

London is almost 2000 years old. American isn't even 1/8th of that age.