TABLE OF CONTENT
| Photo Gallery.............................. |
| Introduction to California.......... |
| State of California Facts............. |
| hotels........................................... |
| The most visited state in US................... |
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Introduction to California
Early Spanish explorers named California after a mythical island in a 16th century novel, a fabulous paradise of gold, griffins and black Amazons. Gold made California a state and an economic power. Modern California doesn't have any griffins or Amazons, but the mention of the name "California" still conjures up images of paradise.
There's more to the state of California than just sun and beaches. If you travel to the state of California, you'll find a state of contrasts and extremes.
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State of California Facts
California is the most populous state in the U. S. One out of every eight people live here.
Only Alaska and Texas have a larger land area than the state of California.
Two out of ten of the largest U. S. cities are in the state of California: Los Angeles and San Diego.
California is the country's top agricultural state, growing half of the food for the country. Almost all almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, kiwifruit, olives, persimmons, pistachios, prunes, raisins, clovers, and walnuts are grown in California.
California contains the lowest and the highest points in the continental U. S. You can travel from 282 feet below sea level in Death Valley to 14,494 feet at Mount Whitney in less than a day.
California is home to the oldest, largest and tallest living things. The bristlecone pines of the eastern Sierras are 4,600 years old, General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park is the largest and California coastal redwoods are the tallest.
If the state of California economy were measured by itself, it would be the seventh largest in the world.
Generalizations about such a large and diverse state as California are doomed to be untrue. California's women don't all look like the ones on Baywatch and, contrary to the lyrics of a popular song, it DOES rain in Southern California.
It would take years for a visitor to explore all the state of California riches and it's almost impossible to pick out a handful of "must-see" sights when you travel to California. Depending on your interests, you can travel to bustling cities, watch the waves roll in at a deserted beach or explore extreme natural beauty. You can spend all your time in densely populated cities, or travel to places where the population is less than the elevation. From south to north, as you travel to California, it becomes greener and wilder, from west to east it becomes higher and drier. There's no shortage of fine accommodations, either. The state of California is home to 24 out of the top 100 hotels and four out of the top ten spas in the U. S. and Canada according to Travel and Leisure Magazine, including the number one hotel, Ritz Carlton Laguna Beach.
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Hotels
| Allison Hotel on Union: it is a tourist class hotel on union square and 13 miles from San Francisco Airport $49.00-$99.00 |
| Abigail:it
is a tourist class, charming; boutique hotel (built in 1927) is located
in the heart of theater and arts district.$129.95-$149.95 |
| Pan Pacific
Francisco: It is located 15 miles from San Francisco
International Airport right in the heart of the city's exciting
downtown area. $209.95-$209.95 |
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| Holiday Inn Golden Gateway: The Holiday Inn Golden Gateway is a
first-class hotel located in the center of downtown San Francisco and
just steps away from the California Cable Car turnaround. The 26-story,
499-room hotel offers fantastic city views and it is close to everything
San Francisco has to offer: two miles southeast of the Golden Gate
Bridge, one mile south of Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39, one mile west of
the shopping in Union Square and one mile north of City Hall/Civic
Center.$100-$120 |
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The most visited state in US
In 2000,California maintained its top state visited ranking by overseas travelers (6.4 million), again surpassing Florida which hosted over 6.0 million visitors. California and Florida have traded places over the years as the top destination. Over the past decade, California was the top state visited in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000. Florida was the top state visited in 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1998.
Being the top state is the result of numerous factors. One of the factors is the composition of the travel market that visits each state. If you follow the growth or declines in arrivals to the United States by the world region and country-of-residency, you will see similar changes in a state's or city's visitation volume. If a particular destination depends upon its visitors from countries that have seen increases in arrivals to the United States, chances are they too have seen growth. In contrast, if arrivals from a particular country decline, chances are, the destinations that rely upon these countries for their visitors will also see declines.
For example, while California and Florida are relatively close in terms of the share of Western European visitors, the big difference occurs from the other top regions generating visitors to these two states. California relies upon Asia (2.5 million, up 13%), Western Europe (2.4 million, down 11%), Oceania (444,000, up 14%), and South America (341,000 down 6%) as the top generators of visitors to the state. As TI's regional profiles show, visitors from Asia and Western Europe dominate California's visitation totals. Visitation from Asia grew between 1999 and 2000 offsetting the declines in visitation from Western Europe to position Asia as the top region of residence for travelers to the state. In contrast, however, Western European arrivals to the United States in 2000 were up 3%. Asian travel to the country saw a 9% increase, and travel from Oceania was up 10%. Arrivals from South America to the U.S. were also up 8% in 2000 over 1999. So, although California's growth rates for Asia and Oceania were greater than the national average. The state saw declines in visitation from these two world regions, Western Europe and South America, which had increased overall for the U.S. Overall, California only had a 2% growth rate over 1999 considerably less than the 6% growth for the nation and reflective of the declines experienced in Western Europe and South America.
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