Message: My wife and I are thinking about where we want to go one vacation next year (this year we go to St.Petersburg and Moscow) and we want to avoid traveling to places that are 'not friendly' to foreign tourists. We want to know where you think the WORST PLACE ON EARTH is and WHY? Thanks.

France! because they have a really bad memory and they seem to forget alot!!!!!

Oh, come on... that was not nice. It is not out of chance that France is the most visited country on the earth.

True, Jean Valjean...MOST people have bad memories and forget a lot. And they don't watch enough TV or read newspapers, either.

Jean Valjean

Please give me the website or where you obtained the information that France is the most visited country on earth!!!!
That is quite a statement and I would like to know what country is #2 and #3.

Of all the friends that I have and all the people I have ever met in my lifetime...I know of no one who has ever told me they are just dying to to France.
You could say that the Arab countries are the most visited on earth, because all the Arabs from all over the world are always going back for a visit..no one else wants to go... so Yes it is a very visited place,by their own people.!!!

When you make a statement like that about France( or any country for that matter) , you better have the documented information to back it up.!!

Percy

France does not have short memory problems-where were they recently! Long memories would have to include that they would be speaking German now-2x-and it kills them that they could not accomplish that themselves.

Arab countries have alot of Arabs visiting - for training!

Some of the worst places on earth are former French colonies. Think of Lebanon, Syria, Haiti, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Mali, Laos, Cambodia, Algeria, etc. Even in Morocco, travelers are often harrassed by French speaking pickpockets.

<i>you'd better have the information to back it up</i>...

Ok, here it is:

Most visited countries:

1. France 75.5 million visitors
2. United States 50.9 million
3. Spain 48.2 million
4. Italy 41.2 million
5. China 31.2 million
6. United Kingdom 25.2 million
7. Russia 21.2 million
8. Mexico 20.6 million
9. Canada 20.4 million
10. Germany 19.0 million

Percy:

You've never met anyone that dreams about going to Paris?

I find that very surprising!

I don't know who made the list above, but according to the Lonely Planet &quot;Thailand&quot; book of 1999, prior to 1999, the annual visitors to Thailand were already over 70 million. I don't have newer version of LP Thailand. The list suggests that number has dropped at least below 19 million. Is Thailand doing that bad? I don't think so. I don't know whether Thailand is #1 or not, but I am pretty sure that Thailand will easily beat all countries on that list.

you go, Jean Valjean !!!

Also, the visitor numbers don't really mean much so to argue about it is totally senseless. How could we compare someone who takes a &quot;10 European countries in 2 weeks&quot; tour, France included, with someone else who has just finished traveing in, say, Peru for two months? Ther are not the same thing. I guess what I am trying to say is that one European guy might just take the train to Paris for the weekend, piece of cake, and another guy, even from the USA, decides to visit Peru, a major commitment. See the diference?

Kang:

You are exactly right:

<i>Once a choice destination for international tourists, Thailand's tourism industry has recently fallen on hard times.

Thailand attracts around 10 million tourists per year, staying for an average of eight days.</i>

Please provide the source of your information, and the year it refered to, not just the quote.

I can easily find out the latest number for Thailand by posting a question on the LP board.

I'm not sure who counts as a &quot;visitor&quot; but there are over half-a-BILLION border crossings in the US every year
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/05/cnna.ridge/

New York City alone gets 35 million visitors a year. http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=57

I'd put France in the top 20 on my personal list (of good places, not in me to do the worst list). Probably a lot higher if I hadn't already been a dozen times.

Maryann!!! Can you say that on a public post? Doesn't your country have laws about hate speech???

Jean Valjean

Yes you are correct.
I have never heard of anyone telling me that going to Paris is their dream trip.

Of course I am sure many people would like to go to Paris, it is just that no one has ever told me:
&quot;You know what Percy...I sure would like to go to Paris.&quot; It has never happened.
But hey Jean I WOULD like to go to Paris.. and to Vienna and to Australia and to Argentina and to .......
Take Care
Percy

My country is the victim of alot of hate-I guess you think they can hate us and we cannot-or even talk about it.

People,everyday, are trying to find a way to hurt us, again. This thread is not about this. The worst place on Earth is the thread, I'll stick to that from now on.

I think to be qualifyed as the destination of a &quot;dream trip&quot; for someone, the place has to somehow present certain difficulties for that someone to carry out the visit, otherwise, I guess peole would just say: &quot;I love that place&quot; rather than saying &quot;I dream of visiting there.&quot;

For a Janpaness, going to China wouldn't qualify to be a dream trip but to visit the USA could be very well a dream; for many Americans, to visit China would be a dream but to visit Paris is likely not. I surely believe that many Americans love Paris but never use the phrase &quot;dream trip&quot; because it doesn't have to be a dream.

Most tourists traveling outside their own countries, I think that's how &quot;visitor&quot; is defined, are from either Europe, or North America, or Japan. And the former two share a lot of cultural backgrond so naturally, they tend to visit each other more often. Therefore, I think to evaluate a country's true value as a travel destination and the country's popularity, purely based on statistics of the number of visitors, is not only meaningless, but unfair as well.

As a Chinese American myself, while travelling, I did notice that most of unfriendly talks, biased comments, steriotype labelings, not always regarding politics, are not from Muslim countries such as Indonesia, are not from former foes such as China and Eastern Europe, are not from Latin America where this board is about, but from friends who have benefited the most over relationships with the USA.

An interesting world indeed.