Luxury Travel Magazine Condé Nast Traveler Ranks Chicago the 2nd Best Big City to Visit

Posted by Leo Clark. on Tuesday, October 18th, 2016 at 9:37am.

In case you haven’t heard, luxury travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler recently released their annual Readers’ Choice Awards, which placed Chicago 2nd in the rankings for the “Best Large Cities to Visit” in 2016. 

According to the release, Chicago’s diverse restaurant scene continues to outdo almost every city in the country, while the spectacular architecture, amazing improv comedy venues, and constant efforts by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to boost tourism in the Windy City all help combine to make Chicago a world-class city that’s fun for just about anybody to visit. 

In all, 100,000 Condé Nast readers took part in the survey, which placed New York City at the top of the list, and San Francisco a close third behind Chicago. Along with the recognition, Condé Nast also released their list of country’s best hotels, which had a couple familiar names on it as well. Both the Virgin Hotel and the Thompson Hotel in Chicago were not only recognized, but placed first and second overall. 

Not long ago, Mayor Emanuel publicly announced his lofty goal to bring 55 million annual visitors to Chicago by 2020, and according to reports, 2016 is already on pace to break previous records and draw well over 52 million visitors, which was a milestone set only last year. It’s also estimated that last year’s 52 million visitors infused about $14.9 billion into the local economy, which helps make it clear why tourism continues to be a high-priority for the mayor and the rest of City Hall. 

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