[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by emathias

I've probably hosted over 150 Europeans through Airbnb. All of them positively gushed about Chicago as they got to know it during their stay. All of them loved it and wished they'd budgeted more time to see it - many stay in Chicago for 2-3 days and then head to New York for a full week.

Originally Posted by marothisu

A week ago I was showing pictures of the new Apple store to my co-worker in NYC (who is originally from India). He had only been to Chicago once, years ago, but out in the suburbs for work and the only thing he did in the city was go to the Field Museum. He didn't walk around or anything. Literally went to the Field Museum and then back to his hotel near O'Hare.

His first question was "Is that river photoshopped in there?" When I said no, he's like "wow that looks really nice." So I showed him a bunch of pictures of Chicago. Downtown, the lakefront, the river, etc. He kept saying how beautiful it looks and even commented that the lakefront looks like parts of Miami and he was shocked. This coming from a guy who's been in the US for 15 or 20 years. I bring up Chicago from time to time at work - he's kind of made fun of me for it. However, when he saw these pictures of the city itself he started being serious about it and talked about how much nicer it looks than NYC. I think he wants to visit Chicago now after seeing the pictures.

As far as other people go, it's been the same - international visitors. Most I've met have said the same thing "I had no idea!" and a lot told their friends that they should visit Chicago. Almost all of them were shocked at the city and how different it was from what they expected.

Originally Posted by TimeAgain

The general consensus I've gotten when I go to the East Coast is that people don't know much/don't care about Chicago. It's there. They know it's big, but they always underestimate it's size. And they know we have a lot of crime. It's frustrating, and anything positive I tell them always seems seems to surprise them.

Internationally, they know Chicago for Al Capone and Michael Jordan.

Originally Posted by gebs

I'm a long distance runner and have hosted many international guests for the Chicago Marathon and their reaction to the city is unanimously positive. And that is an event that literally showcases the entire urban core, as it starts in Grant Park, runs through the Loop, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Old Town, Greektown, Chinatown, Pilsen, Motor Row, and the South Loop.

Echoing the sentiments in this thread, the positive feedback is almost always accompanied by surprise. I do think that most everyone who visits, especially from abroad, leaves with a much better impression (if they even had one to begin with).

I think these consistent similar experiences are very telling and Chicago somehow needs to do more to get its name out into the world beyond "it gets really cold and a lot of people get shot". Our GDP is outrageous, our architectural history, our food culture, our population size, multiple large airports, world class museums, proximity to the lake with dozens of beaches, good public transportation (for an American city), and the list goes on. We should seriously be a global destination city, not a "wow I didn't even know" city. Something more needs to be done than just "Visit Chicago" ads in foreign airline terminals.