WHAT’S THE MATTER HERE?

In October of last year, (yeah it seems strange saying that)I wrote  a  blog post begging, no pleading with the rest of the  world  to ignore warnings from their countries  and not visit the the United States because it was too dangerous . 

(See sportsandtravelblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/21 – dear-foreign-tourists-an-open-letter – to-the-world-from-an-american)

I  asked you to visit our big and little  known cities.

I BEGGED you not to judge all Americans  by our politicians.

I don’t really like to get into politics because  that’s  not what 30 Plus  Teams ,30 Plus  Dreams   is all about.

But this time I have to.

After the remarks made by my president (and even though I didn’t  vote for him, Donald Trump  is still the president  of  my country.)about some countries  being “shitholes” I, as an American  and someone  who  loves to travel just can’t  keep quiet about this.

Travel is supposed to bring people together not showcase our ignorance of people  and countries and continents . 

As an American  I am ashamed that this is  the way politicians ,  especially  the leader of  the  so called free world, feels about the majority of  countries in the world.

This made me wonder . 

After hearing that your country is the second coming of a cesspool ,  would YOU want to visit ANYWHERE in the United  States ? 

Mister President, what are you  DOING?!

Foreign tourists have ALWAYS wanted to  visit your home (and mine too), New York  City  along with those other cities in the country ,  big and small.

I understand  that  you’re  talking about  immigration  in the United  States  and that’s  something  totally  different from what I’m  talking about  here . 

What  are you doing by calling most of the countries in the world  “shithole  countries  “?

At a time when  the world and especially  the  United States  needs all the good  will that it can get as well as more and more tourists seeing the Grand Canyon ,  Times Square ,  Mardi Gras  in not only New Orleans ,  but Savanah ,  Georgia  and Mobile, Alabama, you aren’t  helping  us Mister President . 

Instead of  me sending a letter to all the foreign tourists as an American ,  maybe I should  send another one to my president .

I could start the letter with Dear Mister President  –

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DEAR FOREIGN TOURISTS – AN OPEN LETTER TO THE WORLD FROM AN AMERICAN

Dear tourists,

I understand  that some  of  your  governments  have issued travel  warnings  about coming to the United States ,  because  it’s  too dangerous . 

They want you to  rethink that trip to  San Francisco  or Denver, Colorado . 

Please don’t  listen . 

It’s  not that we need your tourist dollars more than let’s  say, Myanmar  or some other  countries do, but we actually  do.

Some cities in the United States  aren’t  doing that great tourist  wise.

They’d  like you to visit them too.

They want you to spend money in Hershey ,  Pennsylvania ,  just like you spend it in Belfast or Bejing.

You’ve  been told about the floods ,  hurricanes , and other sorts of wild weather that we have here.

Sorry, I know  that  some of you go to Thailand  and Bali a lot.

They don’t  have wild weather, too?

Just asking.

In spite of  what your newspapers  back in Amsterdam ,  Saudi Arabia ,  and Sydney  have led you to believe ,  there’s  more to  United States  than New York  City ,  Miami ,  or Los Angeles . 

In spite of what you’ve  heard or seen on your screens back home or what some of your governments  want you to see, Americans are really  very friendly . 

Please don’t  judge us by our politicians . 

We are NOTHING  like that.

We really  want to know  all about you and the country  you come from.

Please don’t  be afraid  of  us because  some of us seem to have this fascination  with guns and something  called “The Second  Amendment . ”

Many of  us  DON’T  have a fascination  with  guns and we’re  troubled  by  our fellow Americans  who do.

We like  to  have a good old time in Jackson  Hole ,  Wyoming  and Branson ,  Missouri ,  just like you do in Munich and Lisbon . 

I’m  sorry  that  it takes so long to go through  some of  our airports  because  of  the  type of passport  you happen  to  be  holding . 

Please don’t  hold that against  the  average  American  or that United  States  customs agent who’s  just doing his or her job.

Get to really  know us.

Have some Tex-Mex  food  in  San  Antonio ,  Texas, or some beer and bratwurst  in Milwaukee ,  Wisconsin . 

See how our dairy farmers go about their business  providing food for us on the farms of Nebraska ,  Iowa or Kansas.

Have a pizza in places you wouldn’t  even consider ,  like Detroit ,  Baltimore ,  or San Diego . 

Have a cheesesteak sandwich  in Philadelphia ,  a lobster roll in Maine ,  a po’boy or a Muffaletta sandwich  in New Orleans ,  or try a “grinder” in Providence ,  Rhode  Island . 

By all means, if you must ,  visit ”  The  City That Never Sleeps  ” ,  because  you know you want to . 

In spite of what recently  happened, please visit Las Vegas . 

Visit it because  there’s  no place like it and everyone  should  visit Vegas at least  once in their  lives . 

Visit  Washington  DC  and Gettysburg ,  Pennsylvania  just so you can understand  why we Americans  are the way we are.

While  you’re  at  it ,  visit Lexington ,  Massachusetts  and Valley  Forge, Pennsylvania  so that you can fully grasp what the United States  is all about . 

You’ve  been told by friends and relatives  how expensive some of our states are.

They are,but there are 50 states in the country ,  don’t  neglect those states that you don’t  know that much about like Delaware ,  Oregon ,  South and North  Dakota, Idaho and West Virginia . 

While  you’re  at  it ,  if you really  want to  get to  know  Americans, take yourself  to a sporting  event, whether it  be  baseball ,  basketball  or American  Football . 

You don’t  have to  understand  the  sport, just observe . 

Whatever you  do ,  though, please don’t  discuss  politics or religion  with us.

You might  not like what you  hear.

As you decide  where your next vacation  is going  to  be ,  Mister or Mrs. Foreign Tourist, please consider  coming  to  the  United States . 

We aren’t  as bad as you’ve  been told that  we are.

You might even get to  like some of  us.
Sincerely , 

An American  who would like  you to visit

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF TOURISM WAS LIMITED IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA?

Recently ,  I read an article  in  one of  the  travel  magazines  that some  countries  were going  to  limit  the  number  of tourists  due to overcrowding . Some  cities  have  even  seen violence  against  tourists ,  telling  them  to  ”  Go  Home  ” ,  or even  being  physical  with  some of  the  tourists .

Rome has limited  the  number  of  visitors  to  some  sites  in  the  city ,  such as St. Mark’s  Square  and  Trevi  Fountain  because  some of  them  have  waded  into  the  water ,  rather  than  throwing  coins  in the fountain  like you’re  supposed  to  do .

There  have  been  street  protests  in cities  like  Venice ,  Florence ,  Rome ,  Dubrovnik ,  and Barcelona  most notably .

This  fact  not  only  saddens  me, but it also  has  me thinking .

Could  this  happen  here  or in Canada ?

What  would  it be  like  to not  be  able  to  do a 30  Plus  Teams  Tour  of  New  York  City  due to  overcrowding ?

OK ,  I  get it.

New York  City  is a  bad example  because  if 8 million  plus  of us can live together  in five boroughs ,  what’s  a million  or so visitors  trying  to  pour into  Yankee  Stadium ,  the Empire  State  Building  or One World  Observatory ?

But  let’s  say that New  York  City  Mayor  DiBlasio  suddenly  said that Central  Park  would  be  closed  due to  overcrowding  by tourists ?

Or that only  a  certain  amount  of  people  would  be  allowed  in  Times  Square  on New Years  Eve ?

What about  two somewhat  “smaller  ”   cities  like Miami  and Las Vegas ?

Suppose  the mayor of  Miami  said that they were going  to  limit  the  number  of  tourists  that go into  South  Beach ,  Little  Havana  or Petite  Haiti ?

Could  you  imagine  the  uproar  if the mayor  of  Las Vegas   were to limit  the  number  of  tourists  on the  Las  Vegas  Strip  due to  overcrowding ?

Could this even  be a possibility  here in this  country  or even  in Canada?

Too many tourists  in Montreal  or Toronto ?

Is there really  such  a  thing  as too much tourism  and  too many tourists ?

Could  it be  due to  some  other  reason  that  some these  countries  are taking  such  drastic  measures ?

Could  it  be  that  maybe  in spite  of  all  that  money  that’s  brought  into  certain  countries ,  the  local  people  aren’t  really  that  fond  of  foreign  tourists  taking  way  too  many  pictures  of  things  that they  shouldn’t  be  taking  pictures  of ?

The tourists  might  even be  taking  selfies  of places that  are  sacred   and therefore  basically  interrupting  the  day  to day  lives  of  the  locals .

Maybe these  tourists  aren’t  even  respecting  the customs  of the  locals .

(  See my two blog posts ,  sportsandtravelblog.wordpress.com  / 2017/03/09 please-act-like-you’ve-been-there-before  and sportsandtravelblog.wordpress.com  /  2017/  03/ 06 Capital  -Journey  -please  –  respect  -the –  monuments  –  and  –  memorials  -when – you  –  visit  -Washington  -DC)

What’s  really  fueling  this  suddenly  new phenomenon  of  “overcrowding  by tourism  “?

In defense  of the local  people ,  I can  understand  why  you  would  want  to  limit  the  number  of  tourists  just a little  bit .

Some  people  just  don’t  know  how  to  conduct  themselves  when  they’re  out  of  their  own country  .

That’s  right ,  it’s  the  case  of  ”  not  acting  like  you’ve  been  there  before  “.

Why are  you  wading  through  Trevi  Fountain  like  you’ve  lost your fool  mind?

Are you  for  real ?

That’s  not  only  disrespectful ,  it’s  wicked  rude  and  it shows  a lack  of  training  on your  part .

Everyone  should  be  able  to  see the  sights  of a place whether  they’re  going to  London  to see Big  Ben ,  Buckingham  Palace ,  or the London  Eye .

This also applies  to  Spain if people  want to experience  Flamenco  dancing  where it originated .

This even  holds  true  if you’re  going  to  see all those  monuments ,  memorials ,  and museums  on that  30  Plus  Teams  Tour  of  Washington  DC .

There should  be  some  kind  of  happy  medium  between  tourists ,  locals ,  and the city  you’re  going  to .

No tourist  sites  in a city  should  be  off  limits  due to  overcrowding .

 

How do you  feel  about  some  countries  limiting  the  number  of  tourists  visiting ?

 

Do you  think  this  could  happen  in your own country ?

 

Why?

Tell me  what you  think by dropping  me a line in the  comments  section  .

 

Thanks