For years, we've been envious of countries that have their act together when it comes to tourism promotion. Or seem to.
Italy used to be the world's number one tourism destination, but then, by plebiscite, Italian voters actually killed off its national campaign to promote travel to Italy. A waste of money, the right wing argued; everyone already knows how great we are. Yeah, right. And so, within five years, France had taken over the top spot; today, tourism is France's leading source of international income.
Closer to home, Washington's rural-dominated Legislature killed off our state's modest budget for tourism, forcing family motel owners and big-city port districts into an awkward alliance to cover the deficit.
At the national level, promoting travel to the United States is fraught with peril. Do you talk about Nascar, Nashville, and national parks? Or monuments, movie sets, and Merlot? And if you do decide to shine a spotlight on the dinner table, what will you put on the menu?
A couple of years ago, the wise men on Wall Street and their lackeys in DC realized there was money to be made in bringing more furriners to Murica. (Not to stay, no, don't be silly; just to visit.) High-rolling folks, like the kleptocrats from Brazil, the oligarchs from Russia, even the Chinese middle classes. So they created a promotional campaign called Discover America to lure these slack-jawed, awe-struck naïfs to our shores. They rent cars! They sleep in luxury hotels! They buy stuff! And three times a day, they eat stuff, too.
Now there's a website devoted to the universal question: what's for dinner. Not a bad site, frankly. Seattle's own Maria Hines, a darling of the US State Department, is prominently featured.
The creators of the site recognize that a lot of what we take for granted in the US of A strikes foreigners as, well, foreign. Helpful glossary for these terms: "all you can eat," "brunch," "happy hour," "entrée," "early-bird special," "farm-to=table," "comfort food," "family style," "BYOB," "tap water." And, of course, "doggy bag."
Leave a comment