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Tourist all around the globe regardless of origin are not all that different. These days you can fly anywhere almost , if you are brave enough that is ! All things considered I would encourage potential travelers to stay at home this year, likewise I am doing the same. Outside of that advice the best way to visit the US is by motorhome,especially a large enough one to be self contained. I would pick mostly less traveled roads and rural areas. The vast distances we have between places is quite interesting in itself to many tourist from other countries. Also , rural America and the varying lifestyles can be a big draw.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Found this article from Business Insider that listed the top destinations in North America for foreign travelers from 2018....only (slight) surprise on this list to me was Punta Cana, DR.
Based on my observations, they don't travel like that. Foreign travelers know that they can't see the entire country. They focus on certain things. I have met many Brits and Danes doing the Historic Route 66 tour, they rent a van or sometimes Harleys. The Harley crowd usually wants to go to Sturgis as well. The Brits tend to get lost.
Aussies that I have met take Amtrak and work their way from west to east and then back. One family was going to St. Louis from LA and then taking a Mississippi cruise north to Minnesota and taking Amtrak back from there.
It seems Chinese tourists are very group oriented. I met a bus load even at Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo. Another group was at the Grand Canyon in late December. There were several bus loads at an Indian Pueblo. I don't recall meeting only one or two traveling alone. Sometimes there will be a family traveling with visitors or relatives from China.
I have a French acquaintance who travels the US mostly for rock concerts. Another friend is a German tour guide who takes a bus load of German tourists from one big tourist attraction to another in the Southwest...very regimented and efficient.
These can't be inexpensive trips and I sometimes wonder how they manage to spend weeks and a lot of money on their travels. They seem to be just regular people, not particularly wealthy. Americans are lucky to squeeze a week or two into a trip but some of these are a month or more.
If I was a tourist, I would look at the order of rankings from most to least visitied U.S. States and reverse it. But that's me. I like out of the way places
How strange if someone’s first experience with the US were North Dakota.
everything is up in the air these days with the COVID 19. all regular rules are out the windows...I mean who wants to go to NYC or Houston ? motorhome travel is quite active with off shore visitors these days. it’s the safest way to see the country , hands down !
Sorry I honestly forgot to put Texas in...I would actually rank it high up there, perhaps above Virginia even, and Indiana, around Ohio
I back packed through Europe and was intrigued by the popularity of the state over the cities.
People would talk about popular cities like NY and Miami but when it came to Texas they didn't talk of Houston or San Antonio but of Texas as one thing. It is easily one of the most recognizable states. To those who were not familiar with the Texas metros they imagined the big cities to be as portrayed in old Western movies.
I would say they works like to visit
Florida, NYC, California, Texas and Hawaii.
There are specific cities that may be more popular than the states listed above such as Boston or Atlanta. But when they start naming states. These are the ones I heard most of. And yes I know NYC is not a state but many classify it weird. Like a reverse of Texas.
California is a big state with big cities and lots of other tourist stuff (Napa, pacific, redwoods, sequoias, skiing).
NY has NYC and some decent tourist stuff.
Florida has warm weather and warm water.
I think that those are the big three. Then you have Hawaii, Las Vegas, ??,..that's about it except for specific activities like skiiing or maybe the Grand Canyon. The rest are much less including DC, Boston, philly, chicago.
The Midwest has some cool stuff, but I can't see traveling the world to visit there unless you have relatives there.
Found this article from Business Insider that listed the top destinations in North America for foreign travelers from 2018....only (slight) surprise on this list to me was Punta Cana, DR.
These lists are hard to gauge. I imagine that many of LA's international tourists are people from Mexico that stay with family. That's a good thing, but doesn't add as many dollars as people on business or staying at hotels. It would be interesting to see a dollar value list.
1. Ny(c)
2. Ca
3. Tx
4. Fl
5. Il
6. Wa
7. Nv
8. Ma/ri
9. Hi
10.md/va
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