# Places that became tourist attractions for one reason **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998 "2021-12-13T18:15:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/1 "2021-12-13T18:15:47Z")
Did tourists go to Liverpool before the Beatles? Would Gettysburg be anything but a small PA town if not for the battle? Would Pisa be a world destination if not for the tower? Any other examples? It doesn’t have to be somewhere with only one attraction now, just somewhere that became interesting for only one reason. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/2 "2021-12-13T18:23:51Z")
There are a number of them which owe their original appeal to an interesting/beautiful natural feature, and then saw other attractions built up in the area as a result. Niagara Falls is an obvious one; at a more regional level, the Wisconsin Dells (a popular tourist destination in central Wisconsin) originally drew tourists to see the area’s rock formations and river canyons. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/3 "2021-12-13T18:24:52Z")
Valley Forge Park. I live near there. I guess the King of Prussia Mall is not too far away. I’m guessing many battlefields would fit the category. I was in Gettysburg this summer, and there is not much else around there. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/4 "2021-12-13T18:25:42Z")
Does [South of the Border](https://www.sobpedro.com/) count? Tho it exists only as a tourist attraction… ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/5 "2021-12-13T18:36:03Z")
Newfoundland (in Canada) gets a lot of “Anne of Green Gables” tourists. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/6 "2021-12-13T18:39:02Z")
Would Frankenmuth Michigan have become a tourist attraction if it weren’t for Bronner’s Christmas store? Of course, the chicken dinners might have had something to do with it, but there are many places to eat between Detroit and Mackinac City. Or, if you prefer, Wall Drug. Must get that free ice water. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/7 "2021-12-13T18:39:16Z")
Plane crash sites (Patsy Cline, Buddy Holley, Gambler’s Special and a bunch of others), Shalom, CA where James Dean got whacked. Not much reason ever to go there before, and damn little afterward. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/8 "2021-12-13T18:39:22Z")
Delphi, Greece, is a tiny town up in the mountains. I doubt it would have any reason to exist if it weren’t for tourists coming to see the the ruins of the temple and other ancient structures surrounding the famous oracle. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/9 "2021-12-13T18:48:53Z")
As much as [Wall Drug](https://www.walldrug.com/) does. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/10 "2021-12-13T18:51:32Z")
Florida doesn’t have much going for it except sunshine. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/11 "2021-12-13T19:02:43Z")
I doubt many tourists were taking photos in front of 55 Central Park West until it was featured as “Spook Central” in _Ghostbusters_. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/12 "2021-12-13T19:05:57Z")
The city of Harbin in China features temperatures of around -30 degrees c (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) in winter, but millions still go there every year for the winter festival which features massive ice castles and such. Although it dates back to the 60s, my understanding is it was massively expanded about 30 years ago deliberately to transform the city into a tourist hub. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/13 "2021-12-13T19:06:02Z")
Many natural features would fit – The Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, for instance. [![](https://tourismnewbrunswick.ca/sites/default/files/styles/content/public/2020-05/TidalRangeHopewellRocks.jpg) ](https://tourismnewbrunswick.ca/sites/default/files/styles/content/public/2020-05/TidalRangeHopewellRocks.jpg) Las Vegas became a tourist attraction when they added the big casinos. Hoover Dam had to be built before becoming tourist attractions. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/14 "2021-12-13T19:07:54Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Newfoundland (in Canada) gets a lot of “Anne of Green Gables” tourists. That’s Prince Edward Island, I’m pretty sure. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/15 "2021-12-13T19:11:38Z")
I first visited Cardiff because I’d just recently become a big Doctor Who fan. On my initial visits there, there was a huge Who vibe: a prop exhibit at the Red Dragon Centre that was expanded to fill an airplane hanger-sized shell at the Bay a couple of years later, filming location tours, the stars turning on the Christmas lights in late November, show souvenirs widely available…when I met Billie Piper years later and told her that I’d actually been studying Welsh for years and it was as an indirect result of Doctor Who, she said “Look what Doctor Who’s doing for tourism in Cardiff!” It’s died down a lot (I’ve visited the city seven times in a bit under a decade) but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the show brought a lot of people to the city who may not have visited Glamorgan otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/16 "2021-12-13T19:16:18Z")
What about places that became tourist attractions for _zero_ reasons? Some places had nothing to attract tourists, until someone built something there solely for the purpose of attracting tourists. But those may not count, as some people have no regard for tourist attractions that exist just to be tourist attractions. What did Anaheim have before Disneyland was built just to be Disneyland? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/17 "2021-12-13T19:16:30Z")
Of course you’re right. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/18 "2021-12-13T19:20:36Z")
I passed through Orlando a year or two before Disney World opened, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to go there then. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/19 "2021-12-13T19:25:19Z")
I do lots of events/festivals where you get lots of people for that one day/weekend. How many people go to Punxsutawney other than on Feb 2nd? Just looked it up, their population anywhere from doubles to quadruples on that day. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998/20 "2021-12-13T19:29:48Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Shalom, CA where James Dean got whacked. [Cholame, CA.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholame%2C_California) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/places-that-became-tourist-attractions-for-one-reason/955998.md?page=2)