Pittsburgh is a 'revolutionary' place to visit
Share with others:
The romantic hills of Croatia, a perfect beach in Thailand, the gargantuan fjords of Iceland, the modern renaissance of Oman and ... the three rivers of Pittsburgh?
Yes, Pittsburgh is now considered one of the world's top 20 places to visit in 2012, according to the newest edition of National Geographic Traveler magazine -- arguably the big kahuna of travel publications.
Only one other U.S. location -- Sonoma, Calif. -- made the cut.
The city can thank Batman, in part, for the accolades, said Amy Alipio, the magazine's associate editor.
"We polled our contributing editors and writers and got dozens and dozens of suggestions," she said.
"One of them nominated Pittsburgh. It was kind of a dark horse choice, but from asking around, other writers reinforced it would make a good addition to our list, especially with the new Batman movie ["The Dark Knight Rises"] coming out next year. We thought it would generate the most discussion. Pittsburgh has a lot of fans and detractors. A lot of people will be writing in pro and con, I'm sure."
The nominating writer, by the way, was Christine H. O'Toole, a local freelancer who contributes travel stories to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Under the heading "Extreme Metropolitan Makeover," the magazine offers an arty photo of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and two paragraphs of praise, including:
"Its mourning for its industrial past long concluded, this Western Pennsylvania city changed jobs and reclaimed its major assets: a natural setting that rivals Lisbon and San Francisco, a wealth of fine art and architecture, and a quirky sense of humor."
Also on the top-20 list: Dresden, Germany; northern Colombia; the Virunga volcanoes of Africa; Spain's Costa Brava; Muskoka, Ontario; London, England; Guatemala's Mayan ruins; Sri Lanka; Greece; Belfast, Northern Ireland; New Zealand; Panama; Peru; and Mongolia.
National Geographic Travel magazine has a print circulation of 715,000, said Ms. Alipio, and should be on newsstands later this week. The article appears online at http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-trips-2012/.
Joe McGrath, president of VisitPittsburgh, couldn't be happier.
"To be among 20 destinations worldwide selected for this 'Best Of' list is incredibly exciting," he said.
Pittsburgh has made many "best" lists in the past decade, but it's hard to correlate them to increased tourism, said Craig Davis, marketing vice president of VisitPittsburgh. However, he said, the city's 69.1 percent hotel occupancy rate is the highest among its competitive set, where the average is 61 percent. That group, he said, includes Charlotte, N.C.; Baltimore; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; and Louisville, Ky. The numbers come from Smith Travel Research.
In any case, he said, the lists help Pittsburgh raise its profile.
"People want to meet in a place that has a buzz. Pittsburgh certainly has a buzz now."
Aren't all these compliments getting old by now?
"Are you kidding me?" Mr. Davis said. "It never gets old."
First Published October 25, 2011 12:00 am
