We’re No. 2? Travel website says so.
Is the economic downturn helping St. Louis tourism? It may be.
A major travel-planning website recently ranked St. Louis as its second most-popular destination based on requests for tourist information in the first half of the year, according to a press release from the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission. No. 1? Branson.
The website, www.vacationfun.com, has a “strong Midwestern following,” said spokeswoman Katy Smith, but they also think the weak economy is driving interest in easily-accessible, affordable destinations like St. Louis.
“St. Louis attracts short-haul visitors from several surrounding states, as well as within Missouri, and provides any type of traveler with a complete experience,” said vacationfun.com publisher John Hudak. “After arriving by plane or car, they can get around the city on the MetroLink system, avoiding driving and gas prices.”
Vacationfun.com distributes official tourist information for 1338 destinations in 38 states. This is the first time it has ranked its top destinations, Smith said, but St. Louis has generally done well. So far in 2008, it has received more than 20,000 requests for information about St. Louis information.
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Why do the PD writer put a question mark behind it????
Is it that hard to believe?
I didn’t see a question mark behind the fact that STL fell to 52nd in population! or when some statistically ranking service says we are 2nd in murders per capita without pointing out the fact that STL is a independent city and cities like Chicago or not but they use Cook County when compiling Chicagos murder rate per capita.
We wonder why STL has a image problem, the local paper helps promote it!
I like the headline–it’s more attention grabbing than “Website says we’re second most searched travel destination.” Plus, it is just one website. It’s not like Branson and St. Louis are the two most popular tourist destinations in America.
Yep, people are dying to come see our burned out neighborhoods, crack stands and to play that stupid washer game. what hillbilly thought that one up? what’s next– sew who can put the nut on the bolt the fastest?
fingers not so good this morning. see not sew
It’s ok waldo…we just thought you were going hillbilly on us. There’s lots of out of the way things folks don’t know about that are cool in STL. When someone visits, due to the arch cars that may not work properly, or catch on fire, I seldom take visitors to the arch unless they insist. Nobody does. They always have fun and go away liking the city.
Yes, St. Louis does have the typical collection of urban problems-thanks in part to the lack of foresight, planning and recovery of white flight, but it is a fairly inexpensive place to visit. I’m not sure I buy into the notion of being able to get around town via public transportation (I’ll second that motion in Chicago, D.C., NYC and other areas on the east coast). However, compare the cost of a family vacation in Chicago to one in our area for example and one can easily see why we are a popular destination.
I agree with the question mark comment–don’t think it is warranted.
As a person who has lived in many cities, there tends to be a love/hate relationship with the city one resides in. Yes, some folks her don’t care for taking visitors to the Arch or explaining the washer game, but let’s be proud of what we do offer-while still striving to add more spots of interest.
My family loves going to Chicago for a quick getaway. It is expensive, but we have yet to see everything on our list. Geographically, St. Louis cannot offer some of the selling points Chicago (for example) can, but we can be progressive if people voice their opinions or we can stay in the typically conservative St. Louis mode and eventually wither away due to boredom.
We love being able to walk down Michigan Avenue and experience a live, vibrant city late into the evening. We’ve walked the area at midnight on a weeknight with hundreds of other people. Police are not only present, but walking the beat, looking folks in the eye, etc. Our officers could take a clue on that one. Seriously, ever try to speak with an officer working a Cardinal game for example-they are downright surly. We’ve stopped and talked with officers at ever concert/game venue in Chicago-asking them for recommendations, etc-always delightful.
Could we promote our attractions more and offer something new (besides Ballpark Village) down the road?
Wake up the politicians-they certainly were asleep during white flight and continue to dream of the notion where people will reside in our city limits while having to send their child to an expensive private school.
Shake it up conservatives-try something new!!!