In 2014, Miami once again turned out to be one of the most popular resorts in the world<\/em><\/p>
For such a comparison, one can use a recently published detailed report on tourist activity in Miami. According to the report, in 2014, Miami was visited by 14 million 600 thousand tourists. Approximately half of that number, namely 7 million 260 thousand people, were tourists from abroad.<\/p>
Let me note right away that by American standards this is an extremely high figure. Domestic tourism is typical for the USA, and in most large cities, Americans make up the majority of tourists. For example, in Los Angeles in 2014, 43.3 million tourists visited. This number is noticeably higher than Miami, which is not surprising – the location of Hollywood and Disneyland attracts many people. However, only 6.5 million, or about 15% of Los Angeles visitors, were foreigners. The capital of the USA, Washington, D.C., in 2013 (data for 2014 not yet available) was visited by 19.4 million people. Only 1.6 million, or less than 10%, of them were foreigners.<\/p>
Overall, although Miami lags behind a number of large US cities in terms of the number of tourists, it significantly surpasses most of them both in the share of foreigners and in the total number of foreign guests.<\/p>
However, let us compare Miami's indicators with other major resort cities in the world. Take, for example, Barcelona. It is the fourth most popular tourist city in Europe after Paris, London, and Rome. Although Barcelona is not a resort in the pure sense, in that not all tourists come there to sunbathe on the beach, nevertheless, among the major European tourist centers, it is closest to resort status. In 2014, Barcelona was visited by 7 million 875 thousand tourists. This is almost half as many as Miami. In terms of the number of foreigners, the difference is not as noticeable – 6 million 257 thousand in the case of Barcelona and 7 million 260 thousand in the case of Miami. Nevertheless, Miami is ahead in all indicators.<\/p>
If we take famous South American resorts, for example Rio de Janeiro, then the advantage of Miami will be overwhelming. In 2012, this city was visited by "only" 2 million 100 thousand foreign tourists (no data on domestic tourism). In other words, the most famous city in Brazil, the birthplace of the famous carnival and beautiful beaches, receives 3.5 times fewer foreigners compared to Miami.<\/p>
Interestingly, among foreign tourists visiting Miami, the leaders are Brazilians. In general, residents of this country pay great attention to this city; for example, they are also among the leaders among foreigners seeking to buy an apartment in Miami<\/a>.<\/p>