I thought it was an interesting style, with a slight comparisons as well as highlighting some positives and negatives about tourist destinations. The main focus is Queens, but I constantly found it being compared to that of Manhattan. Kirk Semple did a good job giving the people a voice by providing several quotes. Most of the report boasts about the the up and coming Queens as tourist destination providing facts from NYC & Company. It also shows the negative with a quote from Jack Friedman, the former executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. He basically called out NYC & Company as not giving Queens credit previously. Kemp did a good job of showing us both perspectives of how Queens became this main attraction for tourist and its lack of appreciation before.
Category Archives: Queens Tourist
Queens Tourists
This article presented data that show the increase in tourism in Queens in the recent years in comparison to the other boroughs. Along with statistics, the writer uses quotes to further show this increase. In the fourth paragraph, the writer states that “Lonely Planet made a decision” that named Queens the number one tourist destination. What the article does not state is what this decision was based on. The term “made a decision” makes it seem as if the Lonely Planet contributors sat down and discussed and agreed on a place, rather than naming it based on data. Though data is presented throughout the rest of the article, it is still unclear as to how this decision was made.
Further more, I appreciate the diversity in the quotes he attained, interviewing tourists as well as individuals who work in tourism and the like. It allows readers to see both sides of the coin. Queens is the number one tourist destination because the statistics show this increase, but also because these tourists enjoy the area.
The writer has a paragraph that details a conversation Rob MacKay had with a French journalist who said “everybody in Paris is talking about Long Island City.” This paragraph gives us a look into how people around the world are talking about Queens, lending to the idea that it is a popular destination. The paragraph, however, is very conversational and awkwardly phrased. It would have been better off not being a direct quote, but rather a summary of the conversation as MacKay told it.
Queens Tourist
Kirk Semple has a very interesting style of writing in this piece. He goes back and forth between the shock of Queens being such a popular travel destination and the reasons why it is getting so much attention. Many people would not believe that Queens was named the No. 1 travel destination in the US for 2015. Semple understands this and talks about what a shock it is while at the same time explaining to the reader why Queens is such a popular destination.
His interviewing techniques are crucial to his storytelling. Each quotation either precedes and supports a statement he is about to make or comes directly after the point he just touched on. Sometimes he uses the interview to show the negative connotation of Queens and then comes back at the quote showing how regardless of the statement tourism is still thriving. For example, “Large swaths of Queens have really bad aluminum siding…’I Invented aluminum siding’?” is followed by Semple stating, “But boosters say those negative characteristics should not be impediments–and may actually be advantages.” (Kemple)