Houston Over Disney?

[97saturn]

What reason would someone plan a vacation to Houston? Orlando has Disney, Las Vegas has it's casinos. Can you name your reason for someone to board a plane to travel to Houston?

[Lowbrow]

My first thought is because it doesnt have Disney or casinos.

[MidtownCoog]

To be yourself.

[citykid09]

Beaches

Astro World

Pro Sports

Shopping

Splashtown

Water World

Schlitterbahn (not open yet)

(There are more water parks but I can't think of them)

Kemah

NASA

I can go on and on.

[kjb434]

I know many people who travel to cities not because of any large attract or touristy concept. Some people like to just explore another city. I went to Fort Worth one time and a great time exploring its downtown and the art museum there is fantastic.

[skwatra]

just to see a new city. honestly there aren't many cities in the US that i would just fly to, unless i had friends or family to see.

we have the space center, moody gardens, museum district/hermann park, and much more. again, nothing too special like disney but how many places do?

the reason i live here: NASA, i like the weather, cost of living, tons to do (sports, theatre, concerts, clubs/bars, restaurants), proximity to new orleans, austin, san antonio, dallas, south padre, and cheap flights to the caribbean, friendly people, very diverse.

[kjb434]

skwatra,

add some music and pictures to your post and it would be an excellent commercial for the metropolitan area

[skwatra]

i'm glad we don't have commercials. though the vegas ones are amusing the rest i find as sounding pathetic, like come visit me please.

and if we had a commercial about houston that mentioned anything about the weather people would be laughing, we have a pretty bad rep, and it doesn't help that houstonians complain about it so much. where has everyone been the last few months? yeah we have hot summers, but so does much of the country. the summers i spent in st. louis were worst then here (except they were shorter). the rest of the year here is usually great.

LA gets a few inches and they have mudslides and floods, but no one seems to remember that a few days after it happens.

[MidtownCoog]

i'm glad we don't have commercials

We do have them. Or we did. I saw them in Ottawa back in 2001.

[skwatra]

^never seen them. maybe they target certain cities.

so what was it like?

[Sunstar]

I don't really see a lot of people planning big vacations to Houston, much like I wouldn't book a flight to Atlanta or Phoenix or Dallas strictly for sightseeing purposes. However, I think Houston could still be a great regional tourism destination and it also may be enticing enough to business travelers to maybe book their stay a day or so longer just to have a look around. Either way, this could mean more $$ for Houston's tourism industry.

So it's really about finding your niche more so than trying to compete with the 4 or 5 solid tourist destinations in the country that are always going to win out anyway. If that is your criterion, than I think Houston has a lot to offer.

[BayouCityGirl]

My friends came down :

1. Wanted to see Texas (she practically really wanted to move her SO SO BAD and thought of a company relocation -her business is in Conn. and in Houston)

2. came on a freebie thanks to my brother and she loved it so much she wants to come back (and she loved the shopping and has friends down this way)

New Mexico doesn't have many commericals and I went there because it was close to El Paso when I visited and its absoutely GORGEOUS out there!

I also went to smaller cities because of sci fi conventions as well. REALLY REALLY small cities!

Champaign, IL (nothing to do but watch trains go by)

[Guest danax]

i'm glad we don't have commercials. though the vegas ones are amusing the rest i find as sounding pathetic, like come visit me please.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think this city's "persona" at this point is laid back and uninterested in tourists, kind of like a low-key individual that, once you get to know, turns out to be one of the most genuine, cool people you have ever known.

I suppose we should try to increase the tourism though as another aspect of the local economy. Perhaps a commercial with the above mentioned attitude as opposed to the bubbly, flashy ones, kind of an anti-commercial. Create a quiet mystique.

[97saturn]

Being that I plan to move to Houston from Kansas City, Missouri in a few months, I thought I would bring the question up about tourism. I am often asked why Houston? I first visited Houston in 1988. I have since been back twice in the last 3 months and noticed that it has developed alot more for tourism. I can only see that potientially a start of more to come.

[Guest danax]

We do have them.  Or we did.  I saw them in Ottawa back in 2001.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sure it had some catchy slogan at the end. Let's brainstorm a new slogan. It's more of a place to hang out to me more than a destination where you'll have a week's worth of back to back spots to visit so I submit; "A few things to see, a great place to be". and not spoken by someone with a drawl.

[citykid09]

My Uncle and Aunt are moving to Houston from Boston when they get there house sold.

[BayouCityGirl]

the cost of living here is cheap,

River Oaks housing is steep,

the bayou hurricane flooding is deep,

But we don't give a $%#(!

Come to Houston,

Come one and all.

Stay for an Astro's Game,

Listen to our drawl.

We are the diamond in the rough as many may not see,

Houston is the place to be!

Go shopping at our high end stores, (Galleria)

play on our (Galveston) beaches and more!

The Aquarium Tigers you'll adore,

The traffic &construction you can't ignore!

Even though you choose to visit Houston and you can't stay,

Visit the Neon Ferris Wheel by the Freeway,

See the beer can house someone had made,

Can you believe it was where someone once stayed?

We live to work and play and work to play,

Taking it day to day!

Our colors we (un) proudly wave,

orange/white, "COH" it says.

Come run in Memorial Park, take a jog or two,

kick back our boots and have a brew.

Listen to our multi-languages from 1-92

Come to Houston, if you only knew!

Visit NASA where the shuttle flew,

See M.D. Anderson where we can find a cure or two (We can only pray and hope!!)

Be where the action is, come today,

Hurry hurry don't delay!

Come see the houses of the eccentric Montrose,

Where we proudly boast!

Come one, come all,

short, skinny, fat or tall!

Come see the expensive houses,

of River Oaks!

Drive Down Westheimer if you dare,

Don't say I didn't tell you to beware!

go clubbing downtown and have some fun,

enjoy the heat of our 100+ degree sun!

See the secretive underground tunnels near downtown,

where below businesses and shops are to be found.

Enjoy your stay in H-Town as we say,

take a tour around the bay

Go golfing on our many resorts,

If you want go see the Port (of Houston)

Go bird watching and see nature at its best,

Put our city to the test.

Its beautiful in many unusual ways,

It has its good and bad weather days!

If your up to it why not see,

the zoo, the art galleries and the Musuem of Natural History!

Who cares how many people we have in The Bayou City alone,

we got plenty of room to roam (8,778 sq miles to be exact)

After all some of us residents call this home.

Try our Tex-mex eat at your delight,

or any of our international dishes you may want to try.

If your homesick and your a foreigner,

Not to worry CVS is on every corner!

We treat you like a good Texan would (or should)

Downhome hospitality if we could.

Don't worry, don't fear,

you come back now, y'here?

[kzseattle]

What reason would someone plan a vacation to Houston? Orlando has Disney, Las Vegas has it's casinos.  Can you name your reason for someone to board a plane to travel to Houston?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Apparently, the city and its residents aren't interested in tourism or tourists. After all, Houston has one of the highest tax rates on rental cars in the nation and Houstonians voted for that. Whether or not we prefer a touristy city, I think that wasnt a smart move since tourist-industry can bring in billions of dollars to a city (and, therefore, could potentially lower taxes and fund city services/infrastructure improvements). Moreover, it helps bolster the image of a city and therefore forces the city to keep up with the reputation by keeping itself city clean and tourist friendly (since, apparently, city officials dont give a crap otherwise). Remember how Houston tried to show its best face during the Super Bowl? Well, imagine it did so every day.

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

^I agree.^

BayouCityGirl, did you make that up? That was good.

[DJ V Lawrence]

the cost of living here is cheap,

River Oaks housing is steep,

the bayou hurricane flooding is deep,

But we don't give a $%#(!

Come to Houston,

Come one and all.

Stay for an Astro's Game,

Listen to our drawl.

We are the diamond in the rough as many may not see,

Houston is the place to be!

Go shopping at our high end stores, (Galleria)

play on our (Galveston) beaches and more!

The Aquarium Tigers you'll adore,

The traffic &construction you can't ignore!

Even though you choose to visit Houston and you can't stay,

Visit the Neon Ferris Wheel by the Freeway,

See the beer can house someone had made,

Can you believe it was where someone once stayed?

We live to work and play and work to play,

Taking it day to day!

Our colors we (un) proudly wave,

orange/white, "COH" it says.

Come run in Memorial Park, take a jog or two,

kick back our boots and have a brew.

Listen to our multi-languages from 1-92

Come to Houston, if you only knew!

Visit NASA where the shuttle flew,

See M.D. Anderson where we can find a cure or two (We can only pray and hope!!)

Be where the action is, come today,

Hurry hurry don't delay!

Come see the houses of the eccentric Montrose,

Where we proudly boast!

Come one, come all,

short, skinny, fat or tall!

Come see the expensive houses,

of River Oaks!

Drive Down Westheimer if you dare,

Don't say I didn't tell you to beware!

go clubbing downtown and have some fun,

enjoy the heat of our 100+ degree sun!

See the secretive underground tunnels near downtown,

where below businesses and shops are to be found.

Enjoy your stay in H-Town as we say,

take a tour around the bay

Go golfing on our many resorts,

If you want go see the Port (of Houston)

Go bird watching and see nature at its best,

Put our city to the test.

Its beautiful in many unusual ways,

It has its good and bad weather days!

If your up to it why not see,

the zoo, the art galleries and  the Musuem of Natural History!

Who cares how many people we have in The Bayou City alone,

we got plenty of room to roam (8,778 sq miles to be exact)

After all some of us residents call this home.

Try our Tex-mex eat at your delight,

or any of our international dishes you may want to try.

If your homesick and your a foreigner,

Not to worry CVS is on every corner!

We treat you like a good Texan would (or should)

Downhome hospitality if we could.

Don't worry, don't fear,

you come back now, y'here?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

BayouCityGirl, I, I, I love you

I think we have EVERYTHING we need to be another tourist town except one piece of the puzzle. If we get that one extra state-of-the-art theme park, a casino area, a resort strip in either downtown or uptown, a hot lighting scheme downtown, an uncompromising nightlife, a reason for tourists to play around NASA, OR a great resort area out or Galveston (doesn't have to be al, but even one of these would do) we'd be unstoppable. Of course, the cheapest is the lighting downtown.

[worldlyman]

There is certainly a good amount of image integrity for a city when it is popular in the tourist sense but I think it's quite over-rated.

I live in a popular touristy city that no one (for the most part) complains about...San Diego. I also lived in the Tampa Bay area, extremely popular in tourism, for a total of six years.

But you know what? Neither city gives me the same over-all "package" that Houston's got.

Houston by far just has an edge, character, zip or whatever that San Diego and Tampa Bay really lack. Yeah, Houston's got more population diversity and more genuine openness in terms of welcoming new residents, that's for sure...not to mention superior cultural amenities.

And think about it. While most people would not pack their RVs just to see Houston's downtown tunnel system or the Med. Center...we can still be proud that we have these things. Anyone can say they've taken their pictures by the Golden Gate Bridge or been atop the Empire State Building...but how many people can say they've had the privilege of enjoying the pedestrian, Bermuda shorts-free, excitement of the Med Center and the tunnel system like us Houstonians and their fortunate visitors? In San Diego, I do get SICK of Coronado and Old Town...I miss the purposeful pedestrianism of a walker's area like the Texas Med. Center, getting meals over at Miller's or Wan-Fu, grabbing a paper at Issues, or getting some Altoids somewhere in the Scurlock Towers.

Tampa Bay and San Diego seem so...packaged...in a way that we feel we are brochure fodder. I love the busy yet un-Disney corner of Westheimer/Shepherd or Richmond/Shepherd and getting off the HCC Station and walking along Main...it's so pedestrian with some folks walking here and there, offering smatterings of eateries and shops, but DEVOID of the numbing "touristy" packaging of an Old Town San Diego, Coronado, GasLamp, Clearwater Beach and such. I know that Main corridor of the HCC Station, with Continental Club and such, will soon be laden with more cool businesses (and that's for the better).

These national media idiots who think the SuperBowl should be in San Diego or Tampa or such every year totally miss out on the real beef of what Houston is about. Besides I was in both San Diego and Houston for their Super Bowls and I can tell you that Houston offered the same things in spades...the party districts, shopping and such that San Diego had. So I don't know what's up the a--ses of these prissy media columnists who said "Houston doesn't deserve a Super Bowl." For the next one, Super Bowl visitors should trek to Galveston which is a bit further out respectively but offers more vibe and eccentricity than a lot of these plastic monotonous Southern California beach towns (they're lovely and all with that Pacific vibe I enjoy but still...).

I like San Diego (area with sunny skies but creepy political manifestion), but damn I am 'a missin' freewheeling H-town! I can't wait to go back in the future, or at least visit soon.

[worldlyman]

What reason would someone plan a vacation to Houston? Orlando has Disney, Las Vegas has it's casinos.  Can you name your reason for someone to board a plane to travel to Houston?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've been to Vegas quite a few times in the past year and a half.

There's nothing to do there but watch people stuff slot matchines and throw chips at a table...and in between watch beautiful girls saw each other in half on magical stages for a hefty admission.

When I lived in Central Florida, young and single, I used to go party and try to find girls with my buddies at this place near Kissimmee called Southeastern Academy, some school for flight attendants. When you're not doing Mickey (or Minnie) and his concomitants...what does that say of the Orlando area?

Houston's got a lot more things to do, all-around, than either Las Vegas and Orlando. More cool serious roller-coasters than those two towns put together, possibly. In Houston, you can enjoy the crowded pedestrianism of SW Chinatown (grab a boba table there and watch people walk all over the place most evenings in Sin Chao Center, Dynasty Plaza, etc.) on one end, and in the other you can put on some nice duds and go catch some serious culture at the Wortham, Jones, Alley and such. Can't really do those in campy Vegas or hickish Orlando.

Then there's the canal rides of the Woodlands (the Venetian in Las Vegas is a Disnified JOKE in comparison!), the trolleys of Galveston...Houston, you are beautiful, baby!

[DJ V Lawrence]

There is certainly a good amount of image integrity for a city when it is popular in the tourist sense but I think it's quite over-rated.

I live in a popular touristy city that no one (for the most part) complains about...San Diego.  I also lived in the Tampa Bay area, extremely popular in tourism, for a total of six years.

But you know what?  Neither city gives me the same over-all "package" that Houston's got.

Houston by far just has an edge, character, zip or whatever that San Diego and Tampa Bay really lack.  Yeah, Houston's got more population diversity and more genuine openness in terms of welcoming new residents, that's for sure...not to mention superior cultural amenities.

And think about it.  While most people would not pack their RVs just to see Houston's downtown tunnel system or the Med. Center...we can still be proud that we have these things.  Anyone can say they've taken their pictures by the Golden Gate Bridge or been atop the Empire State Building...but how many people can say they've had the privilege of enjoying the pedestrian, Bermuda shorts-free, excitement of the Med Center and the tunnel system like us Houstonians and their fortunate visitors?  In San Diego, I do get SICK of Coronado and Old Town...I miss the purposeful pedestrianism of a walker's area like the Texas Med. Center, getting meals over at Miller's or Wan-Fu, grabbing a paper at Issues, or getting some Altoids somewhere in the Scurlock Towers.

Tampa Bay and San Diego seem so...packaged...in a way that we feel we are brochure fodder.  I love the busy yet un-Disney corner of Westheimer/Shepherd or Richmond/Shepherd and getting off the HCC Station and walking along Main...it's so pedestrian with some folks walking here and there, offering smatterings of eateries and shops, but DEVOID of the numbing "touristy" packaging of an Old Town San Diego, Coronado, GasLamp, Clearwater Beach and such.  I know that Main corridor of the HCC Station, with Continental Club and such, will soon be laden with more cool businesses (and that's for the better).

These national media idiots who think the SuperBowl should be in San Diego or Tampa or such every year totally miss out on the real beef of what Houston is about.  Besides I was in both San Diego and Houston for their Super Bowls and I can tell you that Houston offered the same things in spades...the party districts, shopping and such that San Diego had.  So I don't know what's up the a--ses of these prissy media columnists who said "Houston doesn't deserve a Super Bowl."  For the next one, Super Bowl visitors should trek to Galveston which is a bit further out respectively but offers more vibe and eccentricity than a lot of these plastic monotonous Southern California beach towns (they're lovely and all with that Pacific vibe I enjoy but still...).

I like San Diego (area with sunny skies but creepy political manifestion), but damn I am 'a missin' freewheeling H-town!  I can't wait to go back in the future, or at least visit soon.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's kinda the fustrating part of being a Houstonian, in the sense that I don't understand how we get so much negative publicity from the media about us, and as a result we lose events that we could host anytime we wanted better than anybody else (Super Bowls, Olympics), but at the same time we KNOW already that we kick ass as a place to live, work, and play.

The only reason why tourism sounds good to us Houstonians is because it means people get a chance to actually SEE and feel Houston and understand that the perseptions that we have nothing to offer are just false. We LOVE showcasing our city. I bet you that if the U.S. Oympics Commitee were open minded about our city's perception to the rest of the U.S., 2012 would have been OUR year.

a thousand apologies. Fustration Station at it's finest

[BayouCityGirl]

^I agree.^

BayouCityGirl, did you make that up?

[Subdude]

Applause for BayouCityGirl!

[LTAWACS]

I have no clue... im considering xferring out of here.... I tire of the incompetent leadership.

[KimberlySayWhat]

I love San Diego, but I think I love Santa Barbara even better. I love the Spanish architecture.

Speaking of Sea World, does anyone remember Sea Arama (I think that was the name) in Galveston, I think? It was just before Sea World started getting really big. We went on a field trip there in elementary school.

Galveston should open a Sea World.

[kjb434]

I have no clue... im considering xferring out of here.... I tire of the incompetent leadership.

Can't say I'm going to miss you because I won't.

Good luck transfering.

I think most of the bad publicity of Houston is because of the assumption of Houston is a conservative backwards anti-environment city that is everything opposite what most journalists' view area (typically liberal). I do happen to be conservative, but Houston by no means can be pigeonholed like my above description.

This is one of the more diverse cities in the US. Falling in line with cities like San Francisco, LA, NY, and Chicago.

[MidtownCoog]

I think the commerial said "Expect the Unexpected" and showed NASA, Bayou Place and the Theatre District.

[LTAWACS]

Can't say I'm going to miss you because I won't.

Good luck transfering.

I think most of the bad publicity of Houston is because of the assumption of Houston is a conservative backwards anti-environment city that is everything opposite what most journalists' view area (typically liberal).  I do happen to be conservative, but Houston by no means can be pigeonholed like my above description.

This is one of the more diverse cities in the US.  Falling in line with cities like San Francisco, LA, NY, and Chicago.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey come on now... Let's play nice.