Sacramento sees intl tourism boom

from today's Sacramento Bee (7/31):

Capital's in the money: Dollar's fall lures tourists

By Darrell Smith - dvsmith@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, July 31, 2008

"International tourists are taking advantage of a slumping dollar and planning their summer stays in Sacramento.

Whether it's the euro, pound or yen, tourists are getting more bang for their buck in the United States and increasingly are choosing California as a destination, say those in the local tourism industry.

"The U.S. is effectively on sale to the world," said Mike Testa, a vice president at the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau. "California is an international draw, and Sacramento is the capital of that international draw."

More than 17 percent of tourism spending in California last year – about $17 billion – was attributed to international visitors, reported the California Travel & Tourism Commission. Nearly 22 percent of all overseas visitors to the United States in 2007 chose California as their destination." ....

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