THE WORLD'S 50 MOST VISITED TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Are you going to the right place for your hard earned, once a year, bank breakingly expensive 2 week vacation?


Wanting to make sure that you do, the folks at Travel & Leisure  have compiled a listing of the 50 most visited tourist attractions in the world. 


Now you can see if you're following the latest trends or setting them.


Ok, their methodology is a bit suspect. 


They 'gathered the most recent data supplied by the attractions themselves'  (really accurate since an attraction has nothing to gain from inflating attendance totals, right?) 'or from government agencies, industry reports, and reputable media outlets (which must be true because MOs won't make $ - say - by boosting their advertisers popularity. Aha.) . 


'Attractions that don’t sell tickets gave estimates as best they could.'
(So obviously there could be no jacking up of the figures here.)


And, oh yes, T&L defined “tourist attractions” as 'cultural and historical sites, natural landmarks, and officially designated spaces'. 


So they didn't count Minnesota's Mall of America (which would have been #1 with 40 million annual visitors). The Blue Ridge Parkway was also nixed. 


But these surveys are fun to read, so who cares if they undercounted China & India because of 'their lack of dependable visitor statistics'. 


And that 'Berlin’s East Side Gallery and London’s Trafalgar Square were excluded because their tourism bureaus couldn’t provide estimates that distinguished between visitors and locals'. 


Let's just enjoy reading about the 'winners'.


The top 10:


10. Grand Bazaar - Istanbul (15 million visitors) - Ok, how many  
       of you have even heard of this place, never mind visited it?
  9. Disneyland - Anaheim,  CA (15,980,000)
  8. Disney World Magic Kingdom - Orlando, FL (16,972,000)
  7.  Faneuil Hall - Boston, MA (18 mil)
  6. Grand Central Station - NYC (21,600,000)
  5. Niagra Falls - NY & Onterio (22,500,000)
  4. Las Vegas Strip (29,467,000)
  3. Union Station - Washington DC (37 mil)
  2. Central Park, NYC (38 mil)
  1. Times Square, NYC (39,200,000)


What about the Eiffel Tower, Rome's Colosseum & China's Great Wall? Finished: 35th, 46th & 26th.


They shouldn't feel bad - NYC's Empire State, Statue of Liberty & London's Eye didn't even make the cut.


For the full T&L 'Fab' 50 check out:


http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-most-visited-tourist-attractions/1


And after you go to the 'Grand Bazaar', send me a pic of your best bargain.