Kansas City among top tourism towns….really?

Travel sites this time of year regularly rate the best places to go but perhaps at no other time has there been more criticism of some selections. And that’s no surprise when you consider that Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Reykjavik in Iceland were rated among the best places to visit.

Huh?

And that’s not even including Orlando. It’s the theme park capital of the world, no doubt, and also a family favorite. But is it really among the best for grown-ups as well?

“The list is controversial,” said USA Today, referring specifically to Travel+ Leisure (T+L) magazine’s best list in a comment that may apply to other rankings as well.

T+L used data from attractions, government agencies, industry reports and "reputable" media outlets. Unlike some other lists, T+L had nine of their top ten sites within the US.

“One might think tourist spots in populous China or India might have been up there, or the Champs-Elysees in popular Paris,” mentioned the magazine. Instead, T+L chose Times Square at the very top of its ten best list.

Lonely Planet may have expected the controversy by noting that selecting lists of this type “is a long, involved process and, like laws and sausages, you probably don’t want to know what goes in to it.”

“But at the end, a string of sparkling authoritative lists emerges representing what Lonely Planet authors, editors and staff believe to be the very best in travel for next year,” they added.

So why was theme park-dominated Orlando chosen by Lonely Planet as one of the Top 10 destinations? In large part because the editors looked beyond roller coaster rides.

“A world away from the theme-park attractions lies a lake-studded downtown, shady neighborhoods of Cracker-style mid-century homes, and some really good Vietnamese restaurants,” says Lonely Planet's US travel editor Robert Reid.

Editors at Frommer’s looked beyond the barrenness and remoteness of Kansas City to rate it among the top ten cities and the only one among that group that is in the US.

So why Kansas City?

“Its food and music scenes are lively. It sports a number of really good museums. Plus, it's central locale makes it relatively close to a lot of Americans,” they wrote.

This certainly pleased local tourism officials.

"We invite travelers from all over the globe to come to Kansas City and experience the attractions and great hospitality that make KC a great place to visit and an even greater place to call home," said Mayor Sly James.

But not everyone agreed.

“The fact that Kansas City is on the list makes me doubt everything. (I’m) not saying KC is a cultural wasteland, but which state is it in? So did Toto actually go to Missouri?” asked one blogger, referring to the other Kansas City located in Missouri.

Wrote another:

“Museums? Are you kidding me? If you wanna see culture the City of Fountains should not be on your radar. Coming here from Europe I can easily say that KC is a cultural wasteland!”

It was not editors but Lonely Planet voters who gave the nod to Iceland as a “Reader’s Choice Award.”

“Incredibly friendly, amazingly beautiful and one hell of a good time. Best followed by geothermal hot springs,” writes one reviewer. Another wrote about the “incredible displays of nature” found there.

Pittsburgh, formerly known as “steel town,” was chosen by National Geographic Traveler as one of its top 20 great places in the world to experience in 2012.

"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," wrote the magazine.

Pittsburgh was chosen in part because of its being featured in a new “Batman” movie, according to several news reports.

What neglected city will be next?

Joliet, Illinois, the dreary and depressing site of a prison featured in the movie “The Blues Brothers?”

By David Wilkening