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American Morning

Ask CNN: Which Beach is the Most Visited in the United States?

Aired August 08, 2001 - 10:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GAIL HANULA, WATKINSVILLE, GEORGIA: Hi, I'm Gail Hanula from Watkinsville, Georgia, and I'd like to ask CNN, which beach is the most visited in the United States?

STEPHANIE OSWALD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gail, that's a great question. But the answer is not as straightforward as you might think. We talked to tourism officials, travel agencies and environmental experts and while no organization tracks that exact statistic, the shores by major cities tend to be the busiest.

Up north, Jones Beach is the largest. It's located just outside of New York City and sees an estimated six to seven million people per year. Now, New York doesn't stay warm year round, so we went south to Miami and found the chic shores of South Beach get almost 12 million visits a year, half tourists and half locals.

And finally, maybe the closest answer to your question, it's no surprise some of the most visited beaches in the U.S. are in California, where the weather is beach friendly year round. According to the L.A. Lifeguard Service, Los Angeles County beaches, with famed Venice Beach, get as many as 53 million visitors each year.

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