Miscellaneous Forum

VT recently published a press release about popular travel destinations based on tracking those folks who actually use this site for something other than Miscellaneous Forums. (You can find it on the Press link at the bottom of VT's homepage.) I'll just copy the interesting part below; those "up-and-comer" destinations expected to get hot after the recent autumn equinox:

VIRTUALTOURIST UP-AND-COMERS INDEX, FALL 2006**
U.S. Destinations
1 Kihei, HI
2 Estes Park, CO
3 Portland, ME
4 Stowe, VT
5 Juneau, AK
6 Canyon de Chelly, AZ
7 Cannon Beach, OR
8 Olympic National Park, WA
9 Eureka Springs, AR
10 Madison, WI

International Destinations
1 Reykjavik, Iceland
2 Yangshuo, China
3 St. John's, Canada
4 Punta del Este, Uruguay
5 Trogir, Croatia
6 Tanna, Vanuatu
7 Porto Seguro, Brazil
8 Pecs, Hungary
9 Antoneys Cay, Honduras
10 Tallinn, Estonia

** Based on increases in travel research conducted and travel forum questions posted on VirtualTourist.com from August 2005 to August 2006.

I never heard of half the US destinations (2,4,6,7,9) and half of the international ones as well (4,5,7,8,9) Yangshuo was considered an "up-and comer" in China about 20 years ago, so I'm glad to see the rest of the world is finally catching on to it. It's located down the river from Guilin, which is one of the standard stops on most basic China tour itineraries.

Anyway, what do you think of those other places? Isn't AR the abbreviation for Arkansas? What is there to discover in Eureka Springs? What about Pecs, Hungary? Why such strong interest in that one?

Iceland seems like an odd number one destination for autumn, but I suppose it's cold all year long anyway. I saw Anthony Bourdain's Iceland show and he didn't make it seem like a very appealing destination. He even poked fun at the Iceland Tourism Bureau with his own satirical idea of an ad.

I would have expected Lhasa instead of Yangshuo, due to the recent opening of the railway to Tibet. I thought there might be a rush of people around the world eager to make plans for the train to Tibet, but maybe the annual statistics won't show it until after a few more months since passenger service only began in July 2006.

I've visited half of the US destinations and had heard of all but #1. I have not been to #'s 1, 3, 4, 5, & 10. To answer your question about Eureka Springs, AR... It's an absolutely adorable little victorian town in the Ozarks not far from Branson, MO. There are lots of bed & breakfasts, specialty shops, and art stores selling local crafts. Great place for hand blown glass. The entire month of May is the Festival of the Arts & there are tons of exhibits of local art along with local musicians. Don't look for malls or chain stores in Eureka Springs, you won't find any. It's also a popular place to get married and honeymoon. If you're ever in that area, I would definately recommend stopping there - it's such a cute little town!

As for the international destinations, I haven't been to any of them. I've heard of the countries, but can't say I've heard of most of the towns and none of them are on my top 10 list of must see destinations.

Melissa

I've been to all the US destinations except 2, 6, 8 & 9
Glad to see Yangshuo as well as we enjoyed it so much more than Guilin.
Am surprised that Jackson, WY or Yellowstone are not on there. I regularly look through the forum for both places and notice no one ever checks VT for them yet, they're one of the top tourist places in the US. Perhaps so much written on them that VT is the last place people check?

WOW!
Glad, happy and surprised to see Punta del Este as #4!!
It's just 140 kms from my home, been there many times and it's a beautiful place, really deserved that recognition.
I don't know any of the others destinations listed.

Most of these kinds of lists are crap.

Eureka Springs Arkansas is Branson Missouri's older, more refined sister--a gorgeous mountainside resort deep in the forest, full of colourful Victorian buildings.

I'm running behind in updating my pages, so my is still on my 'to do' list and you'll have to take my word for it!

I've heard plenty of great things about Canyon de Chelly, Trogir and Tallinn but Pecs? Hmmm...

I agree 99% of the time these lists are stupid.

Many of the places are places I want to go, Punta del Este and Tallinn. But many I at the same time won't bother with. Too many good places to go that arent on "somebody else's" list.

Thanks for the detailed information about Eureka Springs. I've heard about Branson, Missouri as it's often mentioned on the Lawrence Welk Show reruns.
I must say I never thought of Arkansas as a popular tourist destination before.

As for the "stupid" and "crap" remarks, please keep in mind that this list was compiled using data on actual travel research and travel forum questions conducted by users of VT, not popular votes or random surveys. Therefore it's not unreasonable to assume that people are actually planning trips to these destinations, and it's not a tally of inane (or insane!) wish lists.

Yup, Eureka Springs is just a little way from Branson ... so one can get local artsy exposure and performers that are interesting in a small zone.

I too am curious about Pecs Hungary though ......

I understand.
But at the same time I do not take anything here at VT as actual and unbiased.
And I honestly do not believe that some town in Arkansas has had more questions in the forum than a NYC or Paris.
So someone made the decision about what is up and coming and what is not.
Therefore making it opinion.

I agree ... and those places might be researched for other reasons ... flollowing a link on another page, seeing mention of it in an article and wanting to know more about it, a VT meet .... so many possibilities!

cjg1:
Sorry, I didn't copy the entire press release in my post. There are 2 other VT lists that show where the most researched destinations for US and International are. You'll see NY and Paris on those lists, as well as Waikiki and Barcelona.
I thought the "up-and comer" lists were far more interesting, so I only copied those. In the press release VT mentions previous "up-and-comers in Europe that are now becoming more popular. It's a fair assumption, if you're interested.
Cheers!

I agree its an interesting idea.
I am just saying it is biased. Every list like this is.

Never heard of Eureka Springs, AR ! You definately need to get out more.

Can't name three cities in Arkansas; I get stuck after Little Rock.

Chris and a few others...you're not understanding the concept of the 'up and comers'- cause it's not in the posting above. Up and Comers includes statistics for *increase* in research on that location...not in sheer numbers. Of course no one is saying that a location in Arkansas is more researched than Paris. The stats show that there was an *increase* in research or awareness. And of course, it's not pure science, but rather indicators based on patterns of research..that's all. Mostly these lists are fun and conversation starters based on some decidedly non iron clad observations rather than double blind, clinical, scientific studies.

So Confucious was just trying to start a conversation with us on the misc. forum?!? Well WHY DIDN'T HE SAAAAAAAY SO! Hey man, I love your pages!

I can understand the concept. And if it gets someone to go to these places thats cool. Or make them aware of such a place. Lord knows I've learned of places I'd never known about here on VT. Just not a fan of lists like this.
Although the explaination you give it helps.

And furthermore since the majority of researchers are from the US rather than any specific other country or region, that regional bias will be reflected in the results. I'm sure everybody in Uruguay knows Punta del Este very well. Not so for the U.S. or Australia, or India.

I agree, the best thing about VT is that it def. opens you up to places you've not even heard of or would normally research.
I enjoy looking through a member's page and seeing a particular picture, of a specific place I wouldn't have necessarily known. I'll then google it, or go to the forum for that particular place and read through past threads.

G. Actually have a trip booked to Punta del Este. A result of the latest trip to Buenos Aires where I met a someone from Seattle who has an apartment there.

Cool. Let me know how you like it. I'd like to get down there too!

Thanks, Homanded!
As you can see from my Forum Postings history, I seldom initiate topics in the Mischievous Forum. What I think may be a humorous or interesting subject can mean something totally different to others.
For example, I thought it was funny that people in Taiwan had organized a mass mooning of mainland China in an extravagant event featuring rows and rows of naked buttocks, but here in this forum it became a flashpoint of political discussion instead.
For this topic I just thought that since we consider ourselves a geographically savvy lot for being members of a website devoted to independent travel then perhaps this list of "up-and comers" should not be so challenging. As a US citizen, I thought not knowing half of the international destinations wasn't too bad but knowing nothing at all about half of the American destinations was a bit embarassing.
Therefore I was honestly only trying to generate an intriguing discussion and see how many of these destinations are also little known to other VT veterans. My goal was certainly not to debate the merits of the list or frighten people who may think "dear god in heaven, not ANOTHER nauseating 'list' topic".
I think I got some good responses though, as it's nice to see that VT members really are planning trips to these obscure destinations and that I'm not the only one who hasn't got a clue about places like Pecs.