Five Destination Stories of the Week: Superman Statue and More

CLEVELAND

Did you know? Superman was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Now there’s a privately funded $2.2 million statue in front of Huntington Convention Center to honor the Man of Steel. The cannot-miss-it location in the heart of downtown Cleveland is now a lasting homage to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the super hero creators who were a couple of teenagers in the 1930s. An 18-foot-high monument cast in stainless steel by a Cleveland artist now takes flight alongside bronze statues of Jerry and Joe plus Joanne Siegel, the inspiration for Lois Lane, and even a telephone booth.

HAWAII

Beautiful scenery. That’s why Hawaii has been the backdrop for many major Hollywood film productions, including “Blue Hawaii,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Jurassic Park,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Magnum P.I.” and “Lost.” However, filming has come to a standstill. The film tax incentive introduced in 1997 has not kept pace with other locations. “Hawaii’s film tax credits, which amount to $17 million per project, are currently 22% on Oahu and 27% on the Neighbor Islands with a cap of $50 million annually, while Georgia (30%) and New Mexico (40%) offer more. New Zealand goes even further by offering a 20% cash rebate and a possible 5% bonus, reports SFGate. Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism agrees the tax incentives need to be raised, but a recent bill did not pass the legislative session.

NORTH DAKOTA

North Dakota Tourism is paying $100,000 to partner with country music duo Tigirlily Gold to promote the state in a two-year commitment. Sisters Krista and Kendra Slaubaugh from Hazen, ND recently debuted a new original theme song inspired by their native North Dakota. “Call It Home,” was written in partnership with the DMO.

LAS VEGAS

Visits to Las Vegas were down 11.3% in June 2025 versus a year earlier, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Traffic on Interstate 15 at the California-Nevada border was down 4.3% over the same period, suggesting fewer visitors from California are heading for Las Vegas. Historically, visitors from Southern California provided an estimated 30% of all Vegas visitors in 2024. Analysis from the city indicates that visitors are skewing younger and demonstrating a shift in preferred activities and spending patterns. Also impacting tourism is the drop in major overseas markets such as the United Kingdom and Germany. According to data from LVCVA, there’s significant softening from North American source markets Canada and Mexico, which accounted for more than half of international tourists to Las Vegas in 2024.

NEW YORK CITY

In an unusual move, the New York City hotel lobby is urging elected officials to slash the hotel occupancy tax rate by nearly half, reports Gothamist.  Now at 5.875%, it would drop to 3%, per a proposal from the Hotel Association of New York City. The move is intended to boost tourism, attracting more visitors to counter significant declines from key international markets. The hotel association says the industry is responsible for more than 50,000 “good-paying jobs.”