So, Travel & Leisure's 2008 World's Best Cities list has relegated Buenos Aires to #2 once again (behind Bangkok) as the top city in the world as a tourist destination. Not so bad, after all. NYC is #8 (falling from #6 in 2007) and we kicked Cape Town, South Africa's butt again!
Some of my Argentine friends here get upset when they see BA getting so much attention from the travel media. They feel the influx of tourists will erode (or has already eroded) the charm of the city. Part of me agrees and part of me disagrees. BA needs the income from tourists, but the desire for the all-important dollar has had a negative impact on its overall culture to some extent:
I have lived here going on two years, and when I go into a touristy venue (i.e. McDonalds or any restaurant for that matter), I want to (and try to) communicate in Spanish but the employees insist on speaking English. It's great the restaurants are prepared to deal with foreigners, but if a non-native Spanish speaker wants to communicate in Spanish, the establishments should play along!
Here's the link to Travel & Leisure's 2008 Best Cities list.
(PS: I'm one of those who want to see BA get a lot of positive attention!)
Travel & Leisure's World's Best Cities
No comments:
Post a Comment