Quote:
Originally Posted by Baronvonellis
Well a great example is Rahm built the Riverwalk into an awesome destination! But how many people in Antwerp would know about it? You have to market your strengths of your city to other countries. When I would meet people in Europe the first thing that came to their mind if they knew anything about Chicago was crime and violence, and that's it's a dangerous place to visit. I have 2 friends in Munich that are literally scared to come visit me in Chicago, they think they will get shot walking around. That's not the kind of place you want to spend thousands on for a international vacation. We really have to get the crime under control, and fix our image problem, and start marketing so people have positive ideas of Chicago!
Regarding the Art Institute, well most of those museums are in their capital cities of their countries so of course they are going to be more popular. And really you think the Art Institute is better than the Vatican museum? It's literally the epicenter of western Civilization for 2000 years!! Vs. a city that's only barley existed 200 years. No comparison. The only one I'd say that maybe doesn't equal the Art Institute is Reina Sofía in Madrid. It's a nice modern art museum that has a couple Picassos, but tickets there cost less than half the Art institute and it's in the capital of Spain. The government in Spain subsidizes the ticket price. I've wanted to visit the Art Institute many more times than I do, but the $25 ticket price is really steep. Imagine how many more people would visit if it was $10.
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That's what I hear when I go home within the US. I don't even bother to explain anymore - well there are safe parts etc. Unfortunately the reality is even the safe areas the chances of being a victim of a robbery or something are higher than other top tier American cities. The crime stats while certainly not the worst in the US on a per capita basis are shocking nonetheless especially compared with other developed countries.
So what is the draw here? Other cities have museums, have river walks, have architecture, storied pasts. But how many of the top tourist destinations have crime like Chicago even in the 'safe areas'?
Chicago has an image problem but a lot of it is deserved.