There is no one like me in Fodorville.

thank God for something!

i too like your posts and was just kidding - kind of - well sort of -- well maybe -

well my pants are on fire!

<And shockingly enough most people do not visit Amsterdam purely for the coffeshops and smart shops.>

i realize that. But wonder things like Cannabis Cup which draws several thousand yanks each Nov and when i go to coffeeshops i see quite a few americans who seem to be simply doing coffeeshops.

I would think there are enough potheads in U.K., France, Germany, etc. who came to Amsterdam not for legal pot and shrooms per say but because it adds a nice touch to one of the world's most beautiful and cultural cities.

they don't come just for but may chose Amsterdam over say Berlin for a week because of the coffeeshop culture and attitude as well as museums, etc.

Sometimes it really is hard to deny the numbers, isn't it?

NPR today said Rome's Vatican Museums gets 4,000,000 visitors a year

unless 1 in 2 visitors to Rome go to Vatican Museums that means number of 'tourists' would be much higher than 7 mill?

Don't forget that Vatican Museums are not Rome :)
That was what I was trying to say before, I'm sure the number of visitors of Rome is higher than Berlin..but there's a diference between vacation tourists, pilgrims..and the figures of the Vatican cannot be accounted for Rome..it's another country !!

so you think that Vatican tourists do not set foot in Rome or stay in Rome - hum - where does the Vatican put up those 4,000,000 tourists.

Where is the Vatican airport or train station they arrive and depart from?

there actually is a Vatican train station but it seems to be no longer used.

Yes , of course they do :) But that figures are for visitors (airport, hotels) and all of them are not what we label as "tourists". An example : a catholic parish organizes a trip to Rome through another catholic roman organization. They get to a Roman airport, accomodate on a Roman hotel (or convent, or whatever) ...but they are not accounted as tourists for Rome..but as pilgrims on a religious trip. Another example : an italian that goes to Rome because he/she needs some kind of paperwork that only can be done there..arrives at a Roman train station, goes to a roman hotel...but he or she is technically not a tourist.
I think that figures never can be perfect. Visitors figures are easier to do but who is a tourist and who is not..is not so easy to spot in capital cities.

Actually, Berlin is not that great for business. The population is declining so a lot of companies have not based there.

Now, they've built a lot of gleaming office towers (especially around Postdamerplatz) but I understand a lot of those are empty.

Tourism is a big mainstay but it seems like Berlin isn't as geared for American and British tourists as Italy, France and Spain. Not as much English signage and not as many English-speaking natives as one is led to believe.

And prices are actually very reasonable, lower than most Italian cities. Makes you think that if there was such heavy tourism, the prices would be higher.

Oh and the TV tower, I heard the East Germans had to call in the Swedes to finish it.

kenderina - i agree figures like that mean little because criteria used is not noted.

hotel overnight stays may be a better indication, etc.

No, not business...conventions !! I'm thinking they have to be cheaper to organize there that in other places..because most of my doctors here in Spain are too many times in Germany for a convention !!

Yes, I agree, PalenQ. I suppose the people who do statistics should think on better criteria ! Nowadays people move so much that some things that worked in the past ..work no more.