Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - France Ranked #1

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I can't believe anybody over the age of 18 got involved with a post containing the 'word' "surprized".

surprized says (do you know you are misspelling it? or not) "If want to look at size, it can work both ways. If we measure vistors to each state separately, then I can assure you that France would beat aNY US state hands down. After all, that much smaller country appears to have beat all the States COMBINED!! " >>>>> arrivals means arrivals from another country.... the countries over there are state sized. (or smaller). if you broke down the US numbers into who traveled from state/state (as they are country sized) - well, you would definitely beat most countries in Europe. same with China by the way - it's VAST. have you looked at a map? ******** surprized goes on to say: "also, You say US is farther away and isolated---well Europe is also far away from US and many other countries of the world. You point also suggests that an overwhelming number of the visitors to France are from other Europeran countries--but I have not seen any evidence of that, Can you point to any?" >>>>can you point to anything the OTHER way. sounds like you are shifting the focus away from the main point... and you say EUROPE is far away from many other countries of the world? HUH? Europe is smaller than the US, and is made of HOW many countries? ************ and also: "On a personal note, when meeting people from Europe, I have been surprized that many of them have not visited other European countries that were so close. " >>>was this a representative sampling? were you visiting them in their home country? ******** and also you say: "So you see Devil, your arguments also have serious flaws" sounds like you at least acknowledge you might be a leetle bit wrong? (also?) ****** I say: essentially, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. anyone with half a brain knows you can manipulate figures to mean anything you want them to. I hope you can understand that? I myself am not surprised... :-)

Steve--you are assuming facts not in evidence (that the numbers are inflated because of intra-European travel). And if the ease of travel between European countries was the ONY explanation, then why are numbers for Germany and UK so low? Explain please and offer some evidence for your theories. Also, I am not sure this study even measures train trips or car trips between European countries.

Ignorance: "nomen est omen" 1. There are a lot more Americans than frenchies. Would you mind spelling both with a capital letter? Of course, you're right, , but the figures are not about how many are travelling, but how many are visiting another country. 2. Americans spend a lot more on tourism than any other country Of course, but that's not the point. 3. Americans overwhelmingly travel within their own country. Exactly, but that's not the issue here. These statistics do not include Parisians going to the Riviera either, or the miilions from the french Atlantic who go skiing in the french Alps. That's internal tourism. However, the US figures do include the millions of Caribbeans and Central Americans who fly into Houston and Miami for a day or two merely to shop due to economic problems in their own country. Not really tourism, is it...? But hey, who's counting. Statistics NEVER give the exact picture, but they do show a trend. And the result is: if France was such a bad place, it would be # 6, 10 or 25, but not among the first three.

Encore -i think you should focus on your logic skills and not worry about spelling. You have once again ignored that these countries all have provinces and yet we are not counting those. Just because the countries in Europe may be as big as states -does not mean that subparts of those countries should not be counted. You are too funny-you want to count travel between US states and then you say we must define travel for these purposes as between countries. You still have not offered a shred of evidence that the high numbers in France are the result of travel from other Europeans. As for your point about US being far awy from other countries, your agrument is convoluted. Moreover, you are again assuming facts not in evidence. I suggest you go back to school and take elementary logic. But then again you are too focused on petty things like spelling.

No American loser Jim --you are busy working your butt off so you could find a safe place to live in one of your crime-infested cities or living in a flat dull suburbia with zero style. You are also dating OBESE cows that you call women who slober down greacy burgers and pizza. BTW, France outranks US in best places to live in international studies, much less violent crime, better education and less poverty.

as well as a higher unemployment rate! don't forget that!

hum-WEll in the US they do not even count millions of unemployed! So your figures are inaccurate. We also take care of people who can find jobs. And wouldn't you rather be unemployed, highly educated and safe, then working your butt off in some lousy job, living in fear of violent crime, surrounded by poverty and uneducated?

Olivier: please cool it. I love France but not the type of language you're uttering right now. I guess you went a bit heavy on the apéro tonight, right?

Hey "not surprized"--sorry--it is only in response to that ignorant person -did you see what he wrote?

hey people, calm down, why is everyone so upset that France does so well in this survey? I realise Americans like to think they do best in everything, but please guys, you can't win 'em all. (And for that matter, leave off the UK. 25 million ain't so low for our size - only half that of the US after all, so I'd say we do pretty well for tourism. Particularly when you think people hardly come here to lie on the beach, which must wipe about 25 mil. off our statistics for starters. Just a thought. Byeeee.)

Olivier: I know. He started off with the "bad breath", you came back with the "small genitals" and it just got worse. Whenever you see one of those dumb remarks, either ignore it, or reply in a subtle fashion ("bad breath ?" "Yes, I just had some delicious aïoli") but don't shoot back. I'm having a Ricard as I write this, and it helps to cool me down. Santé!

Devil--for the record, these statistics were found on the web site of the major US trade association for the travel industry. I really doubt such an organization would be promoting figures that it believed were "manipulated" in favor of France and against the US or were "unfair" as you and others (maybe just you in cognito) have claimed.

I think those statistics come not so much from airport arrivals but more from hotels and house renting datas. If some people find unfair the fact to compare a big continent such as the US with just one country like France, we could compare the statistics of the EU towards the US, I still beleive US would not make it #1

I used to care, but now I don't.

For the record, the statistics were not from the "website of a major US trade association." They are from the World Tourism Organization, which is headquartered in Europe.

Why on Earth did my reply show up twice?? It must be the Ricard... Later on, I'll go for some Jack Daniels. Good night folks, stop the fighting and enjoy what's best both sides of the Atlantic. (oops, I just gave away which side of the Atlantic I'm writing from..).

This is the kind of petty arguement that starts a war. Numbers don't really prove anything. All of the countries on that list are great destinations.I think maybe I will start to visit some countries that aren't on the list. There is much more to see in the world than the top 10.

Steve --I obtained the figures from post on a US trade association. I will get you the exact cite in a while and post it for you. (I have it saved on favorite places on my other pc). They obviosly are posted on more than one place.