Tourists to America last week had to contend with a shutdown of some of the best US visitor attractions due to the country’s budget crisis.
Closures included the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC and national parks such as Yellowstone in Wyoming and Yosemite in California.
Many museums and other attractions, such as zoos, were also closed. But most private-enterprise tourist attractions, such as the Disney sites in California and Florida were open for business as usual.
Those flying to and from the US were affected as immigration services as well as police, emergency and fire services were working as usual.
US ‘shutdowns’ have occurred before. A particularly damaging one in 1995/96 saw around seven million visitors being turned away from national parks, with US tourism and airlines losing millions of dollars.
British student Stefan Doyle tweeted: “Not gonna lie, I’m pretty gutted that I’ll never get a chance to visit the Statue of Liberty after its closure was announced earlier.”
Many museums and other attractions, such as zoos, were also closed
Broadcaster Piers Morgan also bemoaned the statue’s closure on his US TV show, although others took to Twitter to point out that it had been shut for some time after Hurricane Sandy before opening again. At the Grand Canyon in Arizona, trails, campgrounds and hotels were closing but those hiking or camping in the backcountry or taking rafting trips on the Colorado River will be able to complete their trips. Helicopter tours also will continue.
About 18,000 people visit the Grand Canyon daily in October.
American tourism promotion body Brand USA said all 401 national parks were shut in the US. Guests staying in hotels and campgrounds were given 48 hours to depart.
Roads that serve as through-ways through national parks remained open.
The organisation added that those working for customs and border protection, for the Transportation Security Administration and for the Federal Aviation Administration were carrying on as normal.