LONDON, UK. 26 January, 2021 —Today, Tripadvisor®, the world’s largest travel platform, announced the winners of its annual Travellers’ Choice® Best of the Best Awards for Destinations. The awards reveal where travellers ventured in 2020, while travel was open, as well as where they dreamed of going while the pandemic kept them stuck at home. The categories include the most Popular, Trending, and Emerging Destinations around the world. And at a time when travellers are enjoying the great outdoors more than ever, 2021 brings with it a new category: National Parks.
St Ives Named Among World Travel Wish List
Cornwall’s St Ives is named fifth in the world’s Emerging Destinations list — the places travellers want to visit next, and is the only UK destination to be featured. Topping the world list is the Caribbean island of Martinique, followed by Panama City Beach in the United States and Brazil’s Armacao dos Buzios in third place.
The Emerging Destinations list is based on the spots travellers are “saving” on Tripadvisor. While COVID-19 kept travellers from exploring too far from home last year, it couldn’t stop them from indulging their wanderlust dreaming of the destinations that would be on their go-to list once travel opens up again.
“These are destinations that travellers want to visit next – whether an existing tourism gem, or an off-the-radar spot not yet firmly on the map for international travellers. It is no secret that St Ives is a well-loved and long established tourist haven, with its picturesque harbour, beautiful beaches and buzzing art scene, but its place on this list shows just how much travellers are missing it and longing to visit again, once COVID-19 restrictions ease,” said Hayley Coleman, Tripadvisor spokesperson.
Yorkshire Dales National Park Named Europe’s #1
In the very first year that National Parks are featured in the Travellers’ Choice® Best of the Best Awards for Destinations, The Yorkshire Dales National Park takes the title of Europe’s best and 11th in the world. While the Peak District National Park places fourth in Europe and 24th in the world. Continuing the UK’s National Parks success, the New Forest National Park in Hampshire takes the fifth spot among Europe’s best.
“With indoor activities mostly off the table in 2020, travellers headed for the great outdoors and according to a recent survey of Tripadvisor travellers, more than half (52%) say they are more likely to take an outdoor or nature trip than they were before the pandemic1. With this in mind, it seemed timely to introduce this year’s new category, National Parks. While the pandemic has been incredibly tough in lots of ways, one positive that we can take away is that it has unleashed a new found love of getting back to nature for many of us,” said Tripadvisor spokesperson, Hayley Coleman.
York Named Among Top Trending Global Destinations
In another victory for Yorkshire this year, York ranks 22nd in the world’s top Trending Destinations. This category recognises destinations that saw the biggest increase in positive ratings and reviews over the last year, meaning they actually grew in popularity during the pandemic. Elsewhere, Cabo San Lucas in Mexico tops the world list, while Corsica in France and Doha in Qatar, take second and third place respectively.
London Loses Out to Bali on Title of World’s Most Popular Destination
Finally, Bali is revealed as the most popular destination in the world, rising from #4 last year to dethrone London from the top spot to second place this year. Popular Destinations highlights the locations that Tripadvisor reviewers raved about most in the past 12 months.
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Methodology and full winners lists
The Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards honour travellers’ favourite destinations worldwide based on reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants, and things to do in destinations worldwide over a 12-month period (1 December, 2019 - 30 November, 2020) from Tripadvisor travellers. The awards take into account the quality and quantity of traveller reviews and ratings.
- The Trending Destinations category honours the locations that showed the greatest year-over-year increase in positive traveller reviews and ratings for accommodations, restaurants, and things to do. Check out the full list of the world’s top Trending Destinations here: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravellersChoice-TrendingDestinations
- The Emerging Destinations category honours the locations that showed the greatest year-over-year increase in “saves” for accommodations, restaurants and things to do on Tripadvisor. Travellers can "save" their travel ideas and plans on Tripadvisor by tapping the heart icon on places to stay, restaurants, and things to do. Saves is a great indicator of what travellers are interested in doing in the future, as opposed to what they have done or are booking now. Check out the full list of top Emerging Destinations in the world here: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravellersChoice-EmergingDestinations
- The National Parks category honours the scenic and historically significant parks that are the most popular among Tripadvisor reviewers, according to traveller reviews and ratings. Check out the full list of the top National Parks in the world here: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravellersChoice-NationalParks
- The Popular Destinations category honours the locations that are the most popular among Tripadvisor reviewers. The methodology takes into account quality and volume of reviews to surface destinations that consistently deliver the best overall experience for travellers. Check out the full list of Popular Destinations here:
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravellersChoice-Destinations.
Notes to editor
- Tripadvisor Consumer Sentiment Survey, based on data drawn from an online survey of up to 2,400 consumers per survey, in partnership with Qualtrics, conducted approximately every two weeks from 3/27/20 through 10/21/20 across six countries - U.S., UK, Australia, Italy, Singapore and Japan.
About Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor, the world's largest travel platform*, helps hundreds of millions of travellers each month** make every trip their best trip. Travellers across the globe use the Tripadvisor site and app to browse more than 878 million reviews and opinions of 8.8 million accommodations, restaurants, experiences, airlines and cruises. Whether planning or on a trip, travellers turn to Tripadvisor to compare low prices on hotels, flights and cruises, book popular tours and attractions, as well as reserve tables at great restaurants. Tripadvisor, the ultimate travel companion, is available in 49 markets and 28 languages.
The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP), own and operate a portfolio of travel media brands and businesses, operating under various websites and apps, including the following websites:
www.bokun.io, www.cruisecritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com, www.bookatable.co.uk, and www.delinski.com), www.helloreco.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.housetrip.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.seatguru.com, www.singleplatform.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, and www.viator.com.
* Source: SimilarWeb, September 2020
** Source: Tripadvisor internal log files
