Survey Says: Where do YOU want me to go next?

Love to know your thoughts

I spent the earlier part of the week at the I.P.W. (International Pow Wow) travel conference in Chicago, where travel trade and journalists meet with tourism officials and check each other out.

I met with so many of them, all domestic, because that’s who was there. From St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the U.S., dating back to the 1500s, to exotic Puerto Rico, southern mainstays like Memphis and Chattanooga, Tenn., the Mississippi delta, California communities like Paso Robles, Oakland, Bakersfield and Sacramento, New England’s Vermont and Maine, mid-west locales like Indianapolis and all of Michigan, Fairbanks, Alaska, Hershey, PA., and a rep for the Norwegian Cruises company.

The meetings gave me a great sense of where I wanted to go next for the Photowalks show, but there’s two big issues. There’s only one fall and one spring, and that’s pretty much when everyone said to visit, with the exception of Fresno, California, which they told me looked great in February with the colorful blooms.

I’m currently on the next road trip, Chicago to Detroit to Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati, so you’ll be seeing those episodes over the summer. (The Rt. 66 trip series comes to close this Sunday on Scripps News and YouTube with Chapter 5: Arizona to California and the end of the road. Well, I may squeeze a few more out of that shoot too.)

So can we do survey says? I know exactly what’s at the top of my wish list—but I’d love to hear from you. Can you help me rank the roster with your preferences?

The Mississippi Delta for the birth of the blues, St. Augustine because it’s such an old, tiny city, Fairbanks, Alaska for a a way to the state without being chained to a cruise ship, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan which easily had the best, prettiest, most awe inspiring sizzle reel shown at IPW. As a guy on a mission to see the world’s most photographable places, this place seems very underrated and so photo worthy!

Three honorable mentions: the Empire State Building for the challenge of building an entire half-hour show around New York’s showpiece, Hershey, which of course is chocolate heaven, and my mother’s hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. But only if she comes along. And my brother Jez too.

After you all vote, I’ll tell you in tomorrow’s edition my ranked order, and see how it compares to yours. Readers are doing a pretty good job of knowing my tastes at this point, so it will be interesting to tell how close our picks are.

SCENES FROM THE FLOOR

Overall, my sense is hopeful optimism that things will turn around. But the travel industry as a whole is trying to bounce back against really tough odds.

The Canadian delegation, formerly huge in force, was mostly absent at IPW, due to the Trump trade war. If there was a huge Asian contingent in this crowd of 5.000 people, I didn’t see them.

People are hurting financially, and with the ICE raids and their ilk, many are apparently scared about visiting. Hiring housekeeping staff is tough.

The president of the Travel USA association said hoteliers and tourism officials need to do a better job of screaming “We are open for business!”

Maybe. Maybe not. Hotel rooms have to become more affordable, airlines have to get more flexible and consumers have to remember how much fun it is to travel, even if it’s just for a quick weekend trip.

What I learned on the recent Route 66 journey and listening to people at IPW was how it’s tougher than ever to run a business in 2025. As one Chicago pizza restaurant owner told me, it’s just harder to be consistent, because the customers are harder to come by. You never know one day to the next what to expect.

Many businesses never fully recovered from COVID and are barely hanging on.

If you can help support your local restaurant, hotel or whatever, please do so. They need you now more than ever.

WHAT WE ARE KNOWN FOR

The IPW trade show floor was full of booths for tour operators, hotel chains and specific cities and states.

Everyone, or so it seemed, had a connection to Route 66, celebrating its 100th anniversary next year, while others touted America’s 250th coming birthday.

It was fun taking a look at the images and phrases many places picked for their sales. Did you know Nashville was the friendliest city in the USA? Or that Houston was the culinary capital of the world?

Music was the theme for Mississippi and Memphis (blues) New Orleans (jazz) and even Bakersfield (really)

And of course lobster for New England, cheese for Wisconsin and wine for Napa.

Naturally.

Speaking of Travel and Squirt Guns

Another thing I learned on my Route 66 journey—maybe not learned, just reinforced. We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and we take it totally for granted.

From national parks like Zion and the Grand Canyon, to cute small towns like Tucumcari, New Mexico and Adrian, Texas. From the rolling hills of New England to lakes, trees and more in the midwest, the rockies of Colorado, the beaches of California, the great energy of New York, Chicago and Detroit, the art deco masterpieces of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the world class museums we found on Rt. 66 in Springfield, Illinois (Land of Lincoln) to the Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie archives back in Tulsa. And as I’ve shown you on Photowalks, the amazing music and food scene of New Orleans and the historic small island city of Galveston, Texas.

And on and on.

So I wouldn’t rush out the door for a European vacation this summer. First of all, you don’t know what’s in store for you when you try to re-enter the country, and secondly, Europeans are saying it loud and clear—many don’t want us to visit. Overtourism is an issue. (Not here!)

This week, again, locals in Barcelona took to the streets to begin pointing and shooting squirt guns at tourists for the crime of visiting, hoping their hostilities would keep us away. In Paris, the staff at the Louvre museum staged a strike against overtourism, causing the museum to have to close on Monday.

In Mallorca, Venice and Lisbon there were overtourism protests as well.

I think these things will eventually sort themselves out, but I remind you, we’ve got a big beautiful country here, and even in some of the busier spots, like San Francisco, Chicago and New Orleans, the crowds are minute compared to what I’ve seen overseas in my travels.

If you need any ideas on where to go domestically, you know who to call! Just drop me a line.

Who needs Paris when you’ve got the Land of Lincoln!

Thanks as always for taking the time to watch, read and listen and I hope you’ll take a minute to fill out my poll. I can’t wait to see where you want to go next!

Jeff