In 2001, there were over 26 million travelers to and within the state, with travel expenditures at about $11.7 billion. There were about 1.9 million international visitors to the state, with Canada and the United Kingdom being the largest markets. About 20% of all tourist activity involves residents traveling within the state. The travel industry supports over 147,600 jobs.
The greater Boston area was the most popular area for tourists in 2001, serving as the destination for about 43% of all trips. A trip to the city might include visits to such old landmarks as the Old North Church, the USS Constitution, and Paul Revere's House, and such newer attractions as the John Hancock Observatory, the skywalk above the Prudential Tower, Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, and Copley Place. Boston Common, one of the oldest public parks in the country, is the most noteworthy municipal park.
About 19% of all trips are made to Cape Cod (Barnstable County). Among its many attractions are beaches, fishing, good dining spots, several artists' colonies with arts and crafts fairs, antique shops, and summer theaters. Beaches, fishing, and quaint villages are also the charms of Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard.
The Berkshires are the summer home of the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood and the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Lee, and during the winter also provide recreation for cross-country and downhill skiers. Essex County on the North Shore of Massachusetts Bay offers many seaside towns and the art colony of Rockport. Its main city, Salem, contains the Witch House and Museum as well as Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables. Middlesex County, to the west of Boston, holds the university city of Cambridge as well as the battlegrounds of Lexington and Concord. In Concord are the homes of Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott. Norfolk County, south of Boston, has the homes of three US presidents: John Adams and John Quincy Adams in Quincy and John F. Kennedy in Brookline. The seaport town and former whaling center of New Bedford and the industrial town of Fall River are in Bristol County. Plymouth County offers Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Plantation, and a steam-train ride through some cranberry bogs.
Massachusetts has about 79 operational state parks.