Collection of Insane and Fun Facts
Locals in Cornwall created an imaginary beach to deal with overcrowded beaches. Fake signposts were put up all over the county leading to the ‘Best Beach In Cornwall,” however the signs actually diverted tourists in the opposite direction from any of the coasts.
Japanese embassy in Paris has a 24 hour helpline, for their citizens who didn’t find Paris as expected. The French psychiatric journal Nervure cites the disappointment many visitors feel is caused by the over-romanticised expectations of Paris as a city of love, fashion, and glamorous people.
The Texas Dept. of Transporttion (TxDOT) buys and sows about 30,000 pounds of wildflower seed (including Bluebonnet) each year. The peak wildflower blooming season draws tourists from all across the nation to see the colorful blooms each spring.
Italy is giving away more than 100 historic buildings – including castles, houses, and towers – in a bid to boost ‘slow tourism’ and tempt visitors away from the overcrowded city centers. To get your hands on the sites, you need to have a clear plan of how they’d be transformed into a tourist facility. Successful applicants will get the rights to the property for nine years, with the option to renew the contract for a further nine. And entrepreneurs with a proposal for turning the sites into a tourist facility could be given a 50-year lease in some cases.
A beach in Russia is covered in “sea glass,” small, polished, colorful pieces of glass that formed from garbage dumped into the ocean. The beach is so beautiful, it has become a tourist destination.
Uniquely, the Norwegian special territory of Svalbard is an entirely visa-free zone. No person is required visa or residence permit, and anyone may live and work in Svalbard indefinitely, regardless of citizenship.
There is a theme park in Lithuania that recreates life as a USSR citizen. Visitors have their belongings confiscated, wear gas masks, experience interrogation, and must learn the Soviet anthem. Their reward is a shot of vodka.
After its tourism sector boomed, Kazakhstan’s foreign minister thanked Sacha Baron Cohen in 2012 for the release of Borat after the country saw a 10x increase in issued visas.
A man diagnosed with terminal liver cancer used his life savings to have a road built in his home village for tourism and trade instead of trying to beat cancer.
