LONDON, 3rd May, TripAdvisor®, the world’s largest travel site*, today unveils the winners of its 2011 Travellers’ ChoiceDestination Awards, honouring the top destinations in the UK, Europe and the world. Unlike any other awards, TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice awards are based on the experiences of millions of travellers from around the world.
It’s good news for London as the capital prepares for the 2012 Olympics – travellers from across the globe have crowned it the UK’s best destination. The English capital also placed well in the World and European categories – coming eighth and third respectively – but was nevertheless beaten by European rivals Paris and Rome.
Edinburgh and Bath placed second and third respectively in the UK category, while Cape Town took the top spot overall, followed by Sydney and Peru’s Machu Picchu. Paris and Rome were winner and runner up in the European category.
“These awards honour the world’s best destinations as decided by those judges that really matter - travellers themselves,” commented Emma O’Boyle, TripAdvisor spokesperson. “Tourism is vital to the UK economy so it’s encouraging to see London and Edinburgh both highly recognised as Europe’s best destinations.”
London shines in Olympic lead up
With just 14 months to go, the capital appears on course for a successful London 2012. News of London being voted the UK’s number one, Europe’s third and the world’s eighth best destination according to millions of travellers is sure to be welcomed.
“This is especially meaningful as so much time and effort has gone into preparing the city for London 2012 and hopefully we’ll sneak ahead of Paris and Rome before the games kick off,” continued TripAdvisor’s Emma O’Boyle.
Top marks for Cape Town
South Africa’s tourism hot spot, Cape Town, has won the accolade of world’s best destination, followed by Sydney and Machu Picchu in Peru.
“Cape Town is clearly the destination to beat,” commented Emma O’Boyle, TripAdvisor spokesperson. “With beautiful scenery, great wine and gorgeous weather, it’s easy to see why Cape Town, which also played host to last year’s World Cup, has topped this year’s list.”
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The UK’s top 25 |
Europe’s top 10 |
World’s top 10 |
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1. London 2. Edinburgh 3. Bath 4. Cambridge 5. Oxford 6. Stratford-upon-Avon 7. York 8. Inverness 9. St. Andrews 10.Liverpool 11.Glasgow 12.Brighton 13.Belfast 14.Canterbury 15.Manchester 16.St Ives 17.Cardiff 18.Windermere 19.Newcastle upon Tyne 20.Aberdeen 21.Windsor 22.Bournemouth 23.Salisbury 24.Chester 25.Oban |
1. Paris 2. Rome 3. London 4. Barcelona 5. Prague 6. Venice 7. St. Petersburg 8. Florence 9. Edinburgh 10.Istanbul
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1. Cape Town, South Africa 2. Sydney, Australia 3. Machu Picchu, Peru 4. Paris, France 5. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6. New York City, USA 7. Rome, Italy 8. London, UK 9. Barcelona, Spain 10.Hong Kong
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For the complete 2011 Travellers’ Choice Destinations list, go to: www.tripadvisor.uk/TCDestinations (please note this link will not be live until Tuesday 2nd May)
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Notes to Editors
TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Destination award winners were determined based on travellers’ favourite and most visited destinations, as pinned on travel maps found on TripAdvisor and on TripAdvisor’s Facebook app “Cities I’ve Visited”.
