Global glory
National magazine names one Texas city among world’s 5 best places to visit in 2020
Brenda Bazan, president and CEO of Space City cheerleader Houston First Corp., touts Houston as a “premier global destination.” Harper’s Bazaar magazine wholeheartedly agrees with her assessment.
Houston appears on the magazine’s December 30 list of the 20 best global destinations to visit in 2020. The only other U.S. locales to join this elite club are New York state and Puerto Rico. Other places sharing the spotlight include Antarctica, Austria, Brazil, Botswana, Israel, and Uruguay.
In lauding Houston, Harper’s Bazaar cites the city’s “well-deserved reputation for incredible eating.” In recent years, a number of publications have hailed Houston as a foodie paradise.
“If you’re a New Yorker, Angeleno, or Chicagoan currently rolling your eyes, trust us — you’ll be hard pressed to find better Vietnamese or Mexican cuisine anywhere else in America,” Harper’s Bazaar brags about Houston.
The accolades don’t stop there. The magazine also highlights the nearly completed redevelopment of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston campus; the upcoming debut of the Houston Botanic Garden; and the ongoing revitalization of the Houston Farmers Market. Furthermore, it mentions the massive expansion on tap for the Texas Medical Center — a project that Harper’s Bazaar says “is sure to encourage even more food, nightlife, and cultural newness for the city in the next decade.”
“In many ways, Houston is kind of like Dubai, using its wealth earned from the region’s natural assets to import high culture, like state-of-the-art museums [and] world-class performing arts centers,” the magazine notes. “It’s certainly worked for Dubai (you’ll find the emirate on many other ‘best of’ lists this season) … .”
All of this praise could help attract more visitors to Houston. In 2018, the area drew a record-setting 22.3 million visitors, according to Houston First. The 2019 figure isn’t available yet. Tourism boosters aim to raise Houston’s number of visitors to 25 million this year.
“I believe our city can compete with any city around the world when it comes to business and leisure travel,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner declared in April 2019.