Travel to the States

Read this Press Release:


Highlights(1) from the 2013 International Visitation to the United States Report
• 2013 international visitation sets a new record to support the National Travel and Tourism Strategy.
• The United States welcomed 70 million international visitors in 2013, three million more than the year before-a five percent increase over 2012.
• In 2013, the top inbound markets continued to be Canada and Mexico.
o Non-resident visits from Canada grew three percent, which set a new record in 2013.
o Mexico, with 14.3 million visits, grew one percent.
• Seven of the top inbound overseas regional markets posted a record level of visits to the United States.
o Asia grew nine percent;
o South America jumped 16 percent;
o Oceana increased eight percent;
o Middle East increased 14 percent;
o Eastern Europe expanded 18 percent;
o Central America increased four percent; and
o Africa was up 18 percent.
• Visitation from Western Europe grew two percent partly due to increasing visits from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
• Visits from Japan, the People’s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong), South Korea and India spurred Asia to post a nine percent increase for the year.
• Annual overseas visits (excluding Canada and Mexico) totaled a record 32.0 million during 2013, up eight percent over 2012.
o In 2013, travel from overseas markets accounted for 46 percent of total non-resident visits to the United States.
o Twenty-seven of the top 50 overseas markets set new visitation records in 2013.
To view or download a PDF version of the report, go to: <http://travel.trade.gov/outreachpages/inbound.general_information.inbound_overview.html>

Rachel Carson's Birthday

Notice how Google showcases some interesting fact on the homepage?  Well today is Rachel Carson's 107th Birthday.

See the link.

Travel and Tourism that is Growing our Economy and Creating Jobs

President Obama visited the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday to promote international tourism to the states.

Some of the points include:

Tourism is America’s most important, and largest, services export: growth in international visitors has created roughly 175,000 American jobs over the past five years, and meeting President Obama’s goal of 100 million visitors in 2021 will support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs.

The number of international visitors to the United States has grown from 55 million in 2009 to 70 million in 2013, and each overseas visitor spends on average $4,500 per visit, at American hotels, shops, restaurants, and other domestic businesses.

Steps taken by the Administration have supported this impressive growth: The State Department issued 9.2 million visas in 2013, up 42% since 2010. Waiting periods for visas in important markets like Brazil and China have dropped from as high as several months to less than five days on average. The Department of Homeland Security has significantly expanded Trusted Traveler and expedited clearance programs that improve the experience of travelers entering the United States.

Through close partnership with airports and industry, we have seen dramatic improvements to the entry process and reduction in wait times for passport control and customs processing at airports. At Dallas Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare, a combination of measures such as Automated Passport Control kiosks and Global Entry services reduced average entry process wait times by nearly 40% over 12 months, and cut in half the number of visitors waiting longer than 30 minutes.

Airport Map

Here is an Airport Map that shows proximity to other airports.  You can also find airports that are remote.

The Future of Water-based Recreation

If the models are correct, paddlers will have so many more opportunities to canoe around the world.

See World Under Water.

AP Reports: Winter Flight Cancellations Were a Record

yep, I know about that. Got a phone call at midnight noting that our 6 am flight was cancelled and would we like to be booked on the flight for the next day/

Yessiree, and after contacting our hotel out of the country, had to deal with extending our return flight a day so we would not miss out on a day in the sun. (this is important for us in New England who 'enjoyed' a cold winter this past season).

See some interesting facts from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Correlation does not mean causation

Here is a good link that we can use to describe (strange) correlations.

Recreation Geography Defined

Over the years, I have attempted to define recreation geography.  Sometimes it is recreation and sometimes it is geography, but hopefully it is mostly "recreation geography.

I started this blog several years ago to share my rambling thoughts about recgeog, and while I (frequently) share my thoughts on other subjects, I do try to keep it focused on the theme of the blog.

Consider doing a search on the definition to see the different ways it has been considered.

Open Space Planning

So every state has some mechanism to plan for recreation and open space.  In Massachusetts we have this link for information.

Every community needs to do the same, so in Southwick Mass, you can find this link.  For a paper on Southwick Open Space and the Community Preservation Act (CPA), see this link.

Brazil 2016 headaches

If Sochi worked so can Brazil,  But the summer Olympics is bigger than the winter one, so it will be a challenge.

Read this report from Tico Times (Costa Rica).