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So why is there seemingly so much more tourism now?

pedro47

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isisdave, tourism is up at both Disney Theme Parks in Florida & California. Also, tourism is up at both Universal Theme Parks in Florida & California.
Both theme parks one day admission cost are over one hundred dollars per person. Someone, somewhere have excess money to afford these prices for admission to a Theme amusement park. This does not include parking fees, food and souvenirs.

Also, timeshare sales increased again as reported by ARDA for the third consecutive years. Sales reach over one billion dollars.
 
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talkamotta

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I remember a long time ago when my son worked for SWA. I was the mom and got mom passes. I always made it home even during spring break. Now the airlines have got more efficient; the last time which was a few years ago....well my flight was quite the adventure. Do you remember having lots of spare seats..not now. Trades used to be easier now it takes more time. Glad I geared up with some knowledge but I have more to learn. As far as the problems with the environment being US. It is true. How many times do you see trash or cigarette buds in a national park. Or even for the pet lovers......love dogs but I dont want to be stepping over your dog poop. We need to be more environmentally minded. Pick up or dont use water bottles at least reuse the bottles....buy yourself a thermos or tervis cup whatever. Dont use the platic bags. But most of all dont waste food and supplies. Most of us have gone down to using only one suitcase instead of two like we did years ago, do that in other areas of your life. Government can make laws but we need to be proactive.
 

billymach4

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Also the increased wealth of the Asian population. Especially China's booming economy.
For example. A few years back I went to Yellowstone. I was amazed at the amount of Chinese and Korean tour groups.
While traveling on I15 there are Coach Buses with Mandarin or Cantonese characters 10 ft high en route to Yellowstone.
 

OldGuy

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The real reason there are more people on vacation is because the world population have increased over 20% since 1990.

So, in other words, there are more people not on vacation.

:confused:
 

OldGuy

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Thus far, one has to be skeptical. Although 2017 and 2018 has brought widespread focus on the problem, the undertaking is the world's largest effort for mankind to undo the tinkering of mankind.

There have been 68 projects approved since 2000, and as of 2011, less than 20% have been completed or even funded. The most ambitious part is acquiring the land to allow the natural filtration of water from Okeechobee down through the Everglades to the SW tip of Florida.

Then, of course, the worst outcomes have been long after that study, 2017, and, the very worst so far, 2018. Last Winter there was a noticeable lack of business, and busy-ness. Some days we could even find a parking place at WalMart (but not many).

I guess a stinky Winter is SW FL is better than any Winter in Cleveland.

:D
 

bnoble

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OldGuy

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Millenials are much more into experiences than things.

A little off-topic, but somewhat related, the other night on the National News they did a story on how a lot of milennials are actually renting things that us Old Farts never would have considered renting. It was about household furnishings that they could rent to try and maybe buy and clothing that they could rent for a month and trade in for new rental clothing. Renting house, leasing cars, or doing ride-share, or Uber/Lyft . . .

Just a general lessening of the desire to own, not tying up their assets.

That gives them more choice in travel, fewer timeshares and second homes (hard to have one when you don't have a first home.)
 

pedro47

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Another reason for more traveling and tourism are lower and stable gasoline prices.
 

vacationtime1

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Three words: Chinese middle class.

Billymach4 gives a great example in post 29. We saw the same kind of thing in Croatia last fall.

Adding a few hundred million people to the middle class does that.
 

PigsDad

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Another reason for more traveling and tourism are lower and stable gasoline prices.
Just curious -- has anyone here made a decision on whether to go on vacation or not based on gas prices? I often hear this "reason" but I have personally never met someone (that I know of) where gas price was a deciding factor for a vacation.

Kurt
 

"Roger"

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There is an article in today's Washington Post on tips for travelling in this day and age of overbooked cities and sites. There is no magic bullet in the article, but some modest suggestions.

I am providing a link to the article below, but you might not get in as a non-subscriber. The Post does allow you to read three articles a month without being a subscriber. If you can get in through the link, you can try googling the newspaper's site and use up one of your three free articles.

Link

PS - For me, the most impressive thing in the article is the picture looking down a canal while the megacruise ship MSC Magnifica passes by. I'm sorry, it just doesn't belong there.
 

OldGuy

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High gas prices have historically negatively impacted the regional, drive-to tourist destinations, so, not actually meeting someone who stayed home because of high gas prices doesn't change the fact that it hurts travel.

I work at one of those regional, drive-to tourist destinations, I meet tourist every day at work, and I have met one who stayed home.

:p

Just curious -- has anyone here made a decision on whether to go on vacation or not based on gas prices? I often hear this "reason" but I have personally never met someone (that I know of) where gas price was a deciding factor for a vacation.

Kurt
 

isisdave

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There is an article in today's Washington Post on tips for travelling in this day and age of overbooked cities and sites. There is no magic bullet in the article, but some modest suggestions.

I am providing a link to the article below, but you might not get in as a non-subscriber. The Post does allow you to read three articles a month without being a subscriber. If you can get in through the link, you can try googling the newspaper's site and use up one of your three free articles.

Link

PS - For me, the most impressive thing in the article is the picture looking down a canal while the megacruise ship MSC Magnifica passes by. I'm sorry, it just doesn't belong there.


Non-subscriber access is pretty much always managed by cookies, so you can try
  • Visiting in an incognito window
  • Setting cookies for the site to "delete when exiting" which is available at least on Chrome
  • Manually deleting the cookies for the site in question
 

pedro47

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Regular Gasoline prices are up 5 to 6 cents per gallon in The Coastal Virginia area for the Fourth of July holiday.
 

clifffaith

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Interesting thread. We have friends from Cologne who we were in awe of, as we stayed home and worked and maybe took a long weekend (in early days of having our own business and pre- timeshare days) and they travelled extensively every year and went all over the world for weeks at a time. In the early 90s they stayed with us for a few days and regaled us with stories of where they had been in the American southwest that we'd never even heard of (Canyon d'Chelles (sp?), for one). Just this April they visited us in our home, and as we asked them where they'd been so far, as they emailed us from the southwest, as they emailed us as they were embarking on the Queen Mary for their cruise home, as they sent a thank you note for our hospitality, every single interaction included a common refrain "it was so crowded, there were too many people, we couldn't enjoy any solitude with nature". I thought it was just a quirk on their part, come to realize more than the Germans are saying that sightseeing has just too much company.
 

Luanne

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PcflEZFlng

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Arizona, actually. Within Navajo Nation.
 

Luanne

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Arizona, actually. Within Navajo Nation.
Ooops. I didn't check. Since it is relatively close to Chaco Canyon, which is in New Mexico, I just assumed.
 

PcflEZFlng

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It's darn close. The landscape is beautiful in that whole area.
 

Glynda

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Regular Gasoline prices are up 5 to 6 cents per gallon in The Coastal Virginia area for the Fourth of July holiday.

When I filled up Monday in the Charleston, SC, area, I was surprised that the price of premium gasoline was the lowest I've paid in quite some time. Go figure! SC is often said to have the lowest prices because our taxes on gasoline aren't as high as other states. Our highways and bridges are really in bad shape and I would prefer to pay higher prices for more results. Tangible results.
 

Beachclubmum

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When I filled up Monday in the Charleston, SC, area, I was surprised that the price of premium gasoline was the lowest I've paid in quite some time. Go figure! SC is often said to have the lowest prices because our taxes on gasoline aren't as high as other states. Our highways and bridges are really in bad shape and I would prefer to pay higher prices for more results. Tangible results.

Regular gas was $2.17 at the Charleston Costco yesterday and premium was $2.57. Nice!
 

pedro47

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7/1/2019 regular gas at our Costco gas station in Newport News, Va was $2.30 p/gal
 
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