Comments

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  David Paul Appell January 24, 2010 at 9:22pm

  Well, there are many reasons we travel, and to me at least it's obvious culture does play a big part for many people -- certainly not everyone, but that's not the claim being made. In any case, I know more than a few people who make a point of, say, visiting New York City once a year or at least regularly, to take in the current exhibitions, Broadway shows, and so forth. Many reasons cities make a point of creating an extensive festival schedule is to boost their tourism appeal (Miami included). And why would one go to a city like Florence if the Uffizzi and the many cultural monuments weren't a huge part of its appeal? I have cousins in Italy who have driven to Vienna mostly to attend the Stadtsoper, and I myself once even flew from New York to Reykjavik specifically to see a Buena Vista Social Club concert. So fortunately, its definitely a real and not uncommon phenomenon!
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  Rossitza Ohridska-Olson January 24, 2010 at 7:00pm

  As much as I want to agree with the group description statement that most of people travel to experience culture as a main reason, the fact show just the opposite. People travel to relax, and then, once they are at a destination, they visit cultural attractions, events and interact with the local culture. People who decide to travel to see a cultural attraction, event or to experience local cultures represent only 14% of the US travelers and 40% of the European ones. That still is a significant part of the world traveling population, but unfortunately stating that this is the main reason for travel is not correct.