[Paul in S.A TX]

Priceline Top 50 Destinations for Memorial Day 2008.

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http://www.centredaily.com/living/travel/story/590941.html

New York City Heads Priceline.com's 2008 List Of Top 50 Destinations For Memorial Day



The Priceline Top 50 Destinations List for Memorial Day 2008
#1 New York City, Times Square/Theater District
#2 Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity South
#3 Chicago, Millennium Park, Loop & Grant Park Area
#4 Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity North
#5 Chicago, North Michigan Avenue/River North Area
#6 Washington, DC, White House/Downtown
#7 New York City, Upper Midtown/Central Park South
#8 San Antonio, Downtown/Riverwalk
#9 New York City, Midtown East
#10 Seattle, Downtown
#11 Oahu, Waikiki Beach Area
#12 Vienna, West Area
#13 San Francisco, Union Square West
#14 San Diego, Coastal Area
#15 Orlando, Universal Studios/Sea World
#16 San Francisco, Union Square East/Embarcadero
#17 Vancouver
#18 Oahu, Waikiki Marina Area
#19 San Diego, Point Loma/Shelter Island/Downtown
#20 Boston, Copley Square/Theater District
#21 San Diego, Downtown & Harbor Island
#22 New York City, Long Island City
#23 Miami, Miami Beach
#24 Jersey City
#25 New York City, Downtown/Soho/Financial District
#26 Key West
#27 Vienna, City Centre
#28 Boston, Quincy Market/ Faneuil Hall/Financial District
#29 Orange County, Disneyland Area
#30 Paris, Eiffel Tower/Grenelle/Montparnasse
#31 St. Catharines, Niagara Falls
#32 Orlando, Disney World Vicinity
#33 San Antonio, Medical Center Area
#34 Miami, South Beach
#35 Toronto, Downtown
#36 Cleveland, Downtown
#37 San Diego, East County
#38 Maui, Wailea/Makena
#39 Maui, Ka'anapali/Lahaina
#40 Ft. Lauderdale, Beach Area
#41 Montreal
#42 London, Bloomsbury/Marble Arch
#43 San Francisco, Lombard Street Area
#44 Savannah, Historic District
#45 San Diego, Mission Valley
#46 Los Angeles, Hollywood
#47 Long Beach
#48 New York City, Brooklyn
#49 New York City, Midtown West
#50 Chicago, North Shore

[Paul in S.A TX]

It's great too see San Antonio ranked so high. Tourisim is San Antonio's 5th largest industry, and it has almost doubled in the past decade to over 26 million visitors a year. That record was set in 2006. Don't mean to booster but dam.... the Riverwalk is really a desirable place to visit these days. And Mark Cuban(Dallas mavericks) called it a smelly ugly ditch, lol! I'm sure he didn't mean it.

[Paul in S.A TX]

Oops, didn't see cities abroad.

[Displaced_Austinite]

I guess. I don't find the riverwalk to be all that amazing. and Jersey City? And how come Vancouver doesn't have district behind it? Or Montreal.

[matthew2109]

why not just rank the cities instead of having NYC in the top 10 three times, Las Vegas and Chicago twice in the top 5

[glowrock]

Another yawner of a list...

Aaron (Glowrock)

[BnaBreaker]

WOW! Look at San Antonio ranked so high! Amazing! Absolutely amazing. What an incredible city. It is definitely one of the best, and this list proves it. I was totally wrong about it.

That's what you were hoping for right?

[dave8721]

Are they aware that #23 and #34 are the same place?

[Top Of The Park]

o brother...another bragging list and boosterism b.s.

[SLO]

This looks like an actual purchase list though, if thats the case it is not subjective. It is where people actually booked vacations. I know Ive used priceline, hotwire, orbitz etc, and they break the cities up for searches, so the #23 & 34 Miami entries are most likely distinct boundaries....

[glowrock]

WOW! Look at San Antonio ranked so high! Amazing! Absolutely amazing. What an incredible city. It is definitely one of the best, and this list proves it. I was totally wrong about it.

That's what you were hoping for right?

:haha:

Sounds about right, BnaBreaker...

Aaron (Glowrock)

[VivaLFuego]

Yeah, there is at least some "data" backing up this list, but I also definitely agree that the list would be more meaningful if destinations within the same city were grouped together....there's no reason that the Vegas Strip, Chicago, and Manhattan all need to be chopped up into different destinations, and it just obscures the overall "desirability" of the cities as destinations.

[unusualfire]

What about all the MILLION of people that don't even shop priceline?

[Paul in S.A TX]

WOW! Look at San Antonio ranked so high! Amazing! Absolutely amazing. What an incredible city. It is definitely one of the best, and this list proves it. I was totally wrong about it.

That's what you were hoping for right?

Yea .....it does prove the haters like Mark Cuban wrong! ;)

[Echo Park]

Seriously, top 50 destinations for Memorial Day WEekend? Are you really this desperate, Paul in S.A. TX?

[rs913]

This is really a list about where people book hotels, since it's broken up by neighborhood. That isn't necessarily equivalent to where people actually choose to spend their time.

On top of that, since it's Priceline, a lot of people end up wherever the site gives them the best deal (which is why Jersey City made the list).

They really should have consolidated it by city, since neighborhood vs. neighborhood on a list like this tells you nothing about "where people are going for Memorial Day".

[PhillyRising]

...and in reality...with the price of gas...the biggest destination will be "home".

[Midwesterner]

Laughable that Indianapolis is not on this list. Yeah, 250,000 people at the 500. Tons of shit to do downtown. Nothing to see here. In the end, who cares?

[blade_bltz]

So who are all these people going to San Antonio?

[dharper6]

So who are all these people going to San Antonio?

San Antonio is extremely popular with both tourists and business people, mainly because of the Riverwalk, Spanish culture, and history.

The business people I deal with all over the country choose San Antonio, New Orleans, San Francisco, and San Diego over other locations in the country. That's anecdotal, I'll admit.

[mhays]

Laughable that Indianapolis is not on this list. Yeah, 250,000 people at the 500. Tons of shit to do downtown. Nothing to see here. In the end, who cares?

Remember it's about people who buy stuff online. I'm guessing not many car racing fans know how to do that.

[Paul in S.A TX]

San Antonio is extremely popular with both tourists and business people, mainly because of the Riverwalk, Spanish culture, and history.

The business people I deal with all over the country choose San Antonio, New Orleans, San Francisco, and San Diego over other locations in the country. That's anecdotal, I'll admit.

Very soon tourists will be able to take a boat ride down the River to the Musuems, The Pearl,San Antonio-Zoo/Aquarium and Brackenridge Park.

[bryson662001]

I always think of Memorial Day as the time to stay home and have a picnic, or to get to the beach/summer resort for the opening of the season. Most of the places on that list would seem to be the ones that would empty out on the holiday. I guess "priceline's" involvement really puts a crazy skew on things.

[glowrock]

Rah! Rah! Rah! My city is better than yours! Hoo-Wah!

Aaron (Glowrock)

[JMancuso]

So who are all these people going to San Antonio?

a lot of people go to san antonio for a long weekend.

anyway, i will be in beautiful utica, ny for memorial day. :banana:

[glowrock]

Yay! Utica! :)

As for me, I'll be back in Denver... No more humidity in Houston! Haha

Aaron (Glowrock)

[SLO]

Some cities are better than others..........and bigger too.

[SAV]

Savannah!!!!!!!!

[DBR96A]

I guess nobody's going to Pennsylvania over the extended weekend?

[Top Of The Park]

I'm partial to Pueblo's River Walk...think I'll skip San Antonio this year.

Paul..its ok to love your city. But its obvious when you create threads like "The Top 50 Metro Populations, 2020 projections" and just happen to interject that San Antonio will be at 4,900,000 just ahead of Boston in the years ahead. San Antonio is a pretty cool city and def on the upswing, but please, cut out the cheerleading.

[dharper6]

I'm partial to Pueblo's River Walk...think I'll skip San Antonio this year.

Paul..its ok to love your city. But its obvious when you create threads like "The Top 50 Metro Populations, 2020 projections" and just happen to interject that San Antonio will be at 4,900,000 just ahead of Boston in the years ahead. San Antonio is a pretty cool city and def on the upswing, but please, cut out the cheerleading.

But cheerleadiing seems to be a big part of why forumers post items here. I sort of enjoy seeing forumers being proud of their cities. I know I do it as well.

Another purpose seems to be to cut down other cities (we all know who those forumers are).

[Top Of The Park]

I enjoy seeing other cities and knowing what makes them tick. What I don't like is creating threads that have a purpose of interjecting ratings of and pushing one's city as its goal. San Antonio stands on its own merits.

[urbanactivistTX]

I will be in the nation's only APPROPRIATE Tourist mecca....

KANSAS CITY, MO

[DruidCity]

Very soon tourists will be able to take a boat ride down the River to the Museums, The Pearl,San Antonio-Zoo/Aquarium and Brackenridge Park.

When is the timetable for this ?

[PhxSprawler]

.

[dfane]

This is silly because Priceline goes off of airfare and hotel stays etc.

How bout the Outerbanks NC or California and NJ beaches where people drive to for the day and/or weekend?
Most people still do not use pricelines and orbits when it comes to renting houses or condos for a day or more.

[Paul in S.A TX]

When is the timetable for this ?

2009 I believe, while River North is underway, with it's new condo,loft, mix use developments.

[ChunkyMonkey]

I must be ignorant, but somehow I don't think Vienna is referring to the city in Austria.

I have no idea where it is or why it warrants two spots #12, #27. The only Vienna I've heard of is in Virginia and I thought it was a boring pit of a suburb.

[SLO]

I enjoy seeing other cities and knowing what makes them tick. What I don't like is creating threads that have a purpose of interjecting ratings of and pushing one's city as its goal. San Antonio stands on its own merits.

I agree only partially with this. If your city has something real to boast of, by all means especially if it is based on fact. If its subjective and projections based on opinions thats one thing, but I enjoy lists and stats, this one is limited because its just priceline hotel sales, but its still fact based on actual sales.

[AustinTex]

I'm not knocking the original poster or posting, but this list taken from an ANNUAL destination guide from Trip Advisor is more accurate as to where people go out of interest.

p.s. only city in Texas on the list is Austin (to the O.P. re: San Antonio)


2008 Travelers' Choice U.S. Destinations

1. Lake Tahoe, California
2. Big Sur, California
3. San Francisco, California
4. Poipu, Hawaii
5. Sedona, Arizona
6. New Orleans, Louisiana
7. Carmel, California
8. Napa, California
9. Lahaina, Hawaii
10. La Jolla, California
11. Jackson, Wyoming
12. Wailea, Hawaii
13. West Yellowstone, Montana
14. Honolulu, Hawaii
15. Hani, Hawaii
16. Bar Harbor, Maine
17. Boulder, Colorado
18. Charleston, South Carolina
19. Monterey, California
20. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
21. Santa Fe, New Mexico
22. Estes Park, Colorado
23. New York City, New York
24. Austin, Texas
25. Washington D.C.

[lfc4life]

^^^ i originally posted that tripadvisor list but thats highlights favourite destinations not most likely to visit

forbes did a list a while back on most visited; houston comes in at number 9, Dallas at 10 and San Antonio at 17
http://www.forbestraveler.com/best-lists/most-visited-us-cities-slide.html

[Paul in S.A TX]

They list S.A. at 20 miilion, but the latest stats just released last month, is over 26 million which should move S.A. up a bit.

[Crawford]

They list S.A. at 20 miilion, but the latest stats just released last month, is over 26 million which should move S.A. up a bit.

It should be #1, no question.

Everyone I know here in Mexico City, rich or poor, Visa or no Visa, is headed to San Antonio for the weekend.

I think the lure is the authentic Mexican food.

[mhays]

I'm not knocking the original poster or posting, but this list taken from an ANNUAL destination guide from Trip Advisor is more accurate as to where people go out of interest.

p.s. only city in Texas on the list is Austin (to the O.P. re: San Antonio)


2008 Travelers' Choice U.S. Destinations

1. Lake Tahoe, California
2. Big Sur, California
3. San Francisco, California
4. Poipu, Hawaii
5. Sedona, Arizona
6. New Orleans, Louisiana
7. Carmel, California
8. Napa, California
9. Lahaina, Hawaii
10. La Jolla, California
11. Jackson, Wyoming
12. Wailea, Hawaii
13. West Yellowstone, Montana
14. Honolulu, Hawaii
15. Hani, Hawaii
16. Bar Harbor, Maine
17. Boulder, Colorado
18. Charleston, South Carolina
19. Monterey, California
20. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
21. Santa Fe, New Mexico
22. Estes Park, Colorado
23. New York City, New York
24. Austin, Texas
25. Washington D.C.

This isn't about numbers. It's about ratings. Obviously some of these draw very small numbers of people.

[mhays]

They list S.A. at 20 miilion, but the latest stats just released last month, is over 26 million which should move S.A. up a bit.

Probably apples and oranges.

This sort of post is a factor in your credibilty problems.

[Evergrey]

Tell me more about San Antonio.

[ltsmotorsport]

Remember it's about people who buy stuff online. I'm guessing not many car racing fans know how to do that.

What you meant to say was "NASCAR fans".;)





Oh yeah, and woooooooooooaaaaaaaahhhhhh! SA is sssoooooooo amazing!

[Ayreonaut]

So this must be the thread I heard about. :haha:

Tell me more about San Antonio.
Lol.

[Raining Inside]

San Antonio is a great city to visit. I know Paul in S.A TX's ridiculous boosterism is turn off to many. I wish he would stop. But based on his post history he will never grasp that he does more harm than good. Please ignore him and consider San Antonio as a tourist destination. I love visiting the city.

[Goody]

Uhh... I thuoght people went camping and shit :shrug:?

[glowrock]

No, Goody... They all go to the Riverwalk! :D

Aaron (Glowrock)

[urbanactivistTX]

^Riverwalk, Sea World, Six Flags, The Alamo, and (for the history buffs) a handful of missions that have been around a good bit longer than the USA.

You've also got to consider it's location. As suck-ass as gas prices are :yuck:, SA has about 9 million people that live within 200 miles of the city (not including the SA metro itself). Within 300 miles it's up to 20 million.

Oh, and head a bit north from town, and you can go camping too ;)

[unusualfire]

^ Are they around the Medical center area from what this survey says?

[KevinFromTexas]

San Antonio is pretty cool though. They have the 2nd oldest city park in the country. San Pedro Park opened in 1729. The only park that is older is Boston Commons which opened in 1630. I poke fun sometimes, but most of what I don't like is the outlying areas of the city. That's what I have a problem with. Everything inside 410 is great though.

[daithi]

Where's New Orleans?:shrug: I was planning on heading to N.O. this weekend but was convinced by a few female friends to go to D.C. instead. I owe them a visit.

And the Mexican food in San Antonio ain't all that. Don't get me wrong, I love S.A. but I can get better "authentic" Mexican food from a taco truck in Houston.:D

[SLO]

You guys are friggin brutal on Paul.........
so what!? be a cheerleader, as long as you are not fabricating facts....

[urbanactivistTX]

Where's New Orleans?:shrug: I was planning on heading to N.O. this weekend but was convinced by a few female friends to go to D.C. instead. I owe them a visit.

And the Mexican food in San Antonio ain't all that. Don't get me wrong, I love S.A. but I can get better "authentic" Mexican food from a taco truck in Houston.:D

Yeah, if I had one complaint about the Riverwalk... WHERE did the authentic Mexican food go????!!!???? Don't get me wrong, I can knock back a good chain restaurant any day, but why not drive outside the city for that, or at least off of the Riverwalk!

[Crawford]

And the Mexican food in San Antonio ain't all that. Don't get me wrong, I love S.A. but I can get better "authentic" Mexican food from a taco truck in Houston.:D

:haha: I was joking about the Mexican food.

I'm pretty sure the Mexican food is better in Mexico than in Texas, which obviously specializes in the very different Tex-Mex.

[Top Of The Park]

You guys are friggin brutal on Paul.........
so what!? be a cheerleader, as long as you are not fabricating facts....


Hey...be a cheerleader all you want, but don't create threads, just so, BINGO, wow....look how big my city is, or how it rates.

[ocman]

So who are all these people going to San Antonio?

No one flies on memorial weekend. They drive. So I'm assuming they come from Dallas and Houston.

[elsonic]

venez à sexy Montréal pour Memorial jour!

it's a rendez-vous for pure Joie de vivre and ultimate soupe du jour, c'est la vie!

no cliché ahah sorry :sly:

[urbanactivistTX]

No one flies on memorial weekend. They drive. So I'm assuming they come from Dallas and Houston.

:haha: :haha: I suppose I'm no one then :haha: :haha:
Flying to KC tomorrow!! And you wanna know why? B/c the way gas prices are the round-trip plane ticket for $200 was less expensive than the cost of gas alone... not to mention food, car maintanence, or any of the other craptastics that come along with a nice 30-hr road trip :yuck: :yuck: :yuck:

If I were stinking rich, I would start mass-producing hydro/electric/solar-powered vehicles, and just say fcuk-it to the government restrictions protecting our ridiculous oil use :banana:

[KevinFromTexas]

:haha: I was joking about the Mexican food.

I'm pretty sure the Mexican food is better in Mexico than in Texas, which obviously specializes in the very different Tex-Mex.

Not really better, just different. Believe me, every chance I get to go out to eat it's always Mexican food, uh, "Tex-Mex". I can't get enough of it.

[Boquillas]

Where's New Orleans?:shrug: I was planning on heading to N.O. this weekend but was convinced by a few female friends to go to D.C. instead. I owe them a visit.

And the Mexican food in San Antonio ain't all that. Don't get me wrong, I love S.A. but I can get better "authentic" Mexican food from a taco truck in Houston.:D

Where did you eat? Certainly you'd have to sample quite a few restaurants to make that claim...


I've lived in both LA and San Antonio, eaten Mexican food in dozens of states, including multiple times in all the large Texas cities, and I'm not boosting when I say that San Anto and LA win, hands down, with a slight edge to SA. They've been making the stuff in this city for over 300 years. Not even LA can claim that.

I've also eaten in Mexico enough to know the difference between SA's newer "Tex-Mex" places (the kind that dominate the other 3 big TX cities) and SA's authentic stuff. Just don't eat on the riverwalk-- it was made for midwestern and eastern tourists. There's more to Mexican food than burritos and flour tortillas.

Don't get me wrong-- you can find a great authentic Mexican place just about anywhere in the US if it's run by recent arrivals or older families that know what they're doing-- but in terms of relative quantity of quality authentic restaurants, San Antonio is fantastic. Just walk down Zarzamora street and you'll see what I mean.

[robhut]

I don't know about this list. I work in a hotel in Miami and we've been sold out for about two months already and we are not even on Miami Beach.
I thought Miami should be higher on the list.
However they probably use travelocity, hotels.com, etc instead. hehehe.

[Crawford]

There's more to Mexican food than burritos and flour tortillas.


Are those items even Mexican? Along with fajitas, crunchy tacos and a bunch of other Tex-Mex stuff, they are bascially nonexistant in Mexico (or at least nonexistent in Central Mexico).

I live half-time in Mexico City, and I have yet to see a burrito or a flour tortilla. You will see 100 stands for cactus or cow brain tacos before you see a sign for something like a fajita.

[Crawford]

Not really better, just different. Believe me, every chance I get to go out to eat it's always Mexican food, uh, "Tex-Mex". I can't get enough of it.

I agree that Tex-Mex is fabulous, especially in South Texas of course; I just think it is different enough to be considered a separate cuisine from traditional Mexican.

[Boquillas]

Are those items even Mexican?

I agree, and I could've phrased that better--corn tortillas are pretty much all you'll find south of the border, and a great deal of Mexican food has nothing to do with tortillas. As for burritos-- well, they seem entirely American. Not a fan. I thought Fajitas (only beef) were initially rustic norteño Mexican fare, or so I've been told, though the version we're accustomed to in the states is pure Tex-Mex (and I don't think chicken fajitas are actually fajitas, for what it's worth.) I've only eaten border Mexican food, to be honest, which I guess is still Tex-Mex.

[shane453]

Thanks for posting, I thought it was interesting to see the various districts of particular cities ranked against each other- for instance that the Universal/Sea World area of Orlando surpassed by far the Disney World area.

I hear the big story with this year's Memorial Day Weekend is the "Staycation" in which people are far more likely to stay in their own states for the weekend rather than spend gas on traveling to other states.

[Trae]

WOW! Look at San Antonio ranked so high! Amazing! Absolutely amazing. What an incredible city. It is definitely one of the best, and this list proves it. I was totally wrong about it.

That's what you were hoping for right?

You know he was.

[TexasBoi]

I don't know about this list. I work in a hotel in Miami and we've been sold out for about two months already and we are not even on Miami Beach.
I thought Miami should be higher on the list.
However they probably use travelocity, hotels.com, etc instead. hehehe.

That might be because the memorial day weekend in Miami is the new black fest nowadays. I don't think Miami was that popular before the festival kicked in. When this one dies and another one becomes popular, those hotels won't be sold out.

[holladay]

Why did this thread turn away from discussing how awesome San Antonio is???? You guys should get back on point!

[Paul in S.A TX]

Why did this thread turn away from discussing how awesome San Antonio is???? You guys should get back on point!

yea what happened?:banana:

[UTPlanner]

If I'm going to support a Texan city it's going to have to be Austin.

Spent the weekend in Moab, Utah taking in the National Parks and doing some mountain biking. Not to mention a few too many beers with friends. My idea of a good Memorial Day Weekend

[KeepSanAntonioLame]

y'all lay off paul. These threads wouldn't sound so retarded if no one responded to the things he says. How about we compromise. Paul, lay off the cheerleading, and everyone else stop bashing paul and SA. :)

[Paul in S.A TX]

y'all lay off paul. These threads wouldn't sound so retarded if no one responded to the things he says. How about we compromise. Paul, lay off the cheerleading, and everyone else stop bashing paul and SA. :)

Yea..... it's only cheerleading when it comes to me. I get a kick out of how some people get all worked up over a list I post, but, not a similar type post by someone else. :frog:

I suppose my thread of the 50 largest metros of 2020 is also retarted with almost 12,000 views. It did take me a couple hours to sort out all the metros and rank them. No credit! haha.