Key Biscayne

Here in New York, Memorial Day brings outdoor cafés, white wardrobes, and the March of the Visitors—the season when friends from out of town begin arriving to enjoy the city just as it's warming up. So I spent the last two weekends as a tourist in my city, hosting friends and hitting the streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Broadway (that’s right, even Times Square). As you might imagine, it's not difficult to convince anyone to visit you when you live in Manhattan, a luxury I've never had before. It was a lot harder to fill the sofa bed when I lived in other cities. Come to think of it, I didn't even need a sofa bed.

Like New Yorkers, Floridians can't have too much trouble getting family and friends to head their way—beaches, theme parks, and plenty of sunshine are powerful things. But to give the state’s tourism industry a boost, VISIT FLORIDA is enlisting residents to invite out-of-towners in a smart campaign that would not only recoup some tourist dollars, but also the dollars of those residents playing tour guides. Check out Florida's video invitations (which come in family, friend, or romance themes) and tell me those kids don’t make Orlando look adorable.

Beachy images might be enough to get a grandparent or a college buddy on a Florida-bound plane, but I still wonder what locals are writing to help entice visitors, and what things people in other places tell friends about their cities to get them to visit. What’s your area's ace-in-the-hole attraction (besides your company, of course)? What's the first thing you show someone when they arrive?

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member Dutchnatasja