Alternate tourist hotspots?
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I think Venezuela would've been a hugely popular tourist destination right now for Americans, Canadians and Europeans if it didn't utterly collapse under the socialist dictatorship of Chavez, and later Maduro, and remained as prosperous as it was in the '80s (where it was literally the third richest country in the Americas after the US and Canada). I could just imagine Caracas being a must see bucket list destination, alongside numerous resorts along the beaches, mountaineering activities, exploration, and it being a foodie paradise.
Man... it's really sad thinking about what could've been in regards to Venezuela.
Man... it's really sad thinking about what could've been in regards to Venezuela.
Eh, I don't know. It depends on a lot of things. If any, I am surprised Puerto Rico is not a popular destination right now, considering it is basically America's Cuba yet Americans prefer to go to Mexico or even the Dominican Republic, instead.
TheSpectacledCloth
Gone Fishin'
It's honestly not that surprising. The sex tourism is much stronger in the Dominican Republic and Mexico than it is Puerto Rico.
I suppose it's due to Puerto Rico's economy, infrastructure and overall vibes in general. And America's been awfully neglectful of the territory for a while now.
To be honest, I'm kind of surprised Puerto Rico isn't a more popular tourist destination for Americans. I would think that PR would leverage the fact that Americans can go there without a passport as an advantage for promoting tourism.
TheSpectacledCloth
Gone Fishin'
I think it has a lot to do with America's conservative stance when it comes to prostitution, and the fact that a lot of Americans simply don't care about Puerto Rico. There's a reason why it hasn't been granted statehood yet. I think it might be because Puerto Ricans are understandably depressed over COVID and all the hurricane damage.
If we want to go further back, the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. If that somehow survived, I can imagine it would be important for both pilgrimages and as a sight to see.
Intresting idea unless Jewish clergy declare whole Temple Mountain as holy site where non-Jews have not any right to entry.
If very early POD is allowed another intresting place would be surviving Ancient Egypt. Now you could see Karnak Temple complex without that being ruined. Yes, you couldn't enter to holiest spots but there probably would be some tourist attractors so the temple could get more money. And it would be impressive looking even from outside anyway. And there would be too lot of royal palaces too.
As the insurgency wound down, the Government made efforts and the decision was to make the coming year, the year of Tourism...the coming year being 2020.
Both of which are perfectly possible in Pakistan.
or Gerizim or Elephantine. Gerizim still is if you are a Samaritan but all 500 live in its vicinity already. Could the Elephantine sect expand or was it wholly localized?
Some Locations are harder to turn into hotspots.
Those in Asia have the downside that they are a pain to get to from the America’s and mot exactly next door to Europe, but that CAN be overcome with a good destination.
Others had communist dictators or religious issues that kept them from turning into popular hotspots.
And of course you need some combination of weather, activities, places to see, nice people and good food.
So location is important, but not as important as the other factors.
And you can get around one or two negatives but if someplace has similar stuff to what you are good at (say great weather and beach) and us better at other factors then you such as a more open government or nicer places to stay then you will lose out to them.
Without major changes in the population and politics and economic issues we have a handful of spots that could with one or two PODs turn into hotspots. But mostly they are places such as Cuba and Turkey that were more popular once and for political and or religious reasons no longer are. There is a photo taken in Afghanistan in I believe the early 70s and it shows a couple women dressed up in relatively short skirts and who would look right at home in New York or London or Paris but we know how that turned out.
So I would guess that most places that could have been hotspots but are not are that way because of politics and religion. The rest of the place’s probably just are missing a few of the key ingredients so can’t easily be turned into hotspots without massive amounts of changes
Those in Asia have the downside that they are a pain to get to from the America’s and mot exactly next door to Europe, but that CAN be overcome with a good destination.
Others had communist dictators or religious issues that kept them from turning into popular hotspots.
And of course you need some combination of weather, activities, places to see, nice people and good food.
So location is important, but not as important as the other factors.
And you can get around one or two negatives but if someplace has similar stuff to what you are good at (say great weather and beach) and us better at other factors then you such as a more open government or nicer places to stay then you will lose out to them.
Without major changes in the population and politics and economic issues we have a handful of spots that could with one or two PODs turn into hotspots. But mostly they are places such as Cuba and Turkey that were more popular once and for political and or religious reasons no longer are. There is a photo taken in Afghanistan in I believe the early 70s and it shows a couple women dressed up in relatively short skirts and who would look right at home in New York or London or Paris but we know how that turned out.
So I would guess that most places that could have been hotspots but are not are that way because of politics and religion. The rest of the place’s probably just are missing a few of the key ingredients so can’t easily be turned into hotspots without massive amounts of changes
How much of a popular vacation destination would a surviving USSR be in the present day?
The Soviet Union had an active tourism industry in its existence, and had their own state-owned company called Intourist for that purpose. Tourism from westerners was relatively sparse in the '50s, but from what I've read had increased over time. By the '80s it was becoming a much bigger industry in its own right, and the Soviet Union got over 4 million western tourists annually. I heard from people who went that in major cities like Moscow and Leningrad, the people there became quite accustomed to seeing Americans/westerners so their appearance didn't surprise them.
I have wondered what tourism in a surviving USSR, especially one that successfully liberalized to allow for market enterprise, would be like today. There's some factors to consider:
How do you think tourism in a surviving USSR would compare to the tourism of the post-Soviet states (Russia in particular) in OTL?
The Soviet Union had an active tourism industry in its existence, and had their own state-owned company called Intourist for that purpose. Tourism from westerners was relatively sparse in the '50s, but from what I've read had increased over time. By the '80s it was becoming a much bigger industry in its own right, and the Soviet Union got over 4 million western tourists annually. I heard from people who went that in major cities like Moscow and Leningrad, the people there became quite accustomed to seeing Americans/westerners so their appearance didn't surprise them.
I have wondered what tourism in a surviving USSR, especially one that successfully liberalized to allow for market enterprise, would be like today. There's some factors to consider:
- International travel has gotten a lot cheaper and more accessible since the '80s (the expansion to wider markets actually began in the '80s), so there would be a greater influx of tourists in the Soviet Union by default.
- Tourism in general has become more popular because of it being accessible and the rise of social media, again likely fueling more western trips to the USSR.
- Many apps now exist to aid tourism that didn't exist back then. Things like Google Maps, Uber, Booking, Expedia, Airbnb, Revolut, Citymapper, Trainline etc., so I wonder if the USSR would be compatible with those services or if they would have their own equivalents.
- The USSR has many places they could advertise for tourists: The big two obviously being Moscow and Leningrad, but also consider the Black Sea/Crimea (Sevastopol, Odessa, Sochi etc.), Volgograd (especially geared for WWII buffs), Central Asia (likely an "alternative" destination playing up its Silk Road history), Kaliningrad (especially if it gets restored to look like a German city again), and Vladivostok (marketed towards Asia tourism especially.
How do you think tourism in a surviving USSR would compare to the tourism of the post-Soviet states (Russia in particular) in OTL?
jERUSALEM. No Balfour declaration Jewish refugees going mainly to South Africa. After Nazi defeat numbers of survivors set up a business in that Holiwar City,
Next year in Jerusalem has millions of Jewish people welcome for a Pilgrimage/vacation each year
Next year in Jerusalem has millions of Jewish people welcome for a Pilgrimage/vacation each year
Jews were already migrating pre Balfour. NILI being one of the motivations of Balfour. or the 1st Chabad rebbe going to prison for helping Palestinian Jews back in the 1800s because the Mitnagdim were able to spin it as treason to the tzar
