UK votes Australia “Best Country in the World”
Australia has beaten out global tourism rivals Italy, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States to be named the “Best Country in the World” by readers of UK's luxury travel magazine, Ultratravel, the Federal Government has announced.
Some of Victoria's Apostles
The magazine annual reader survey’s winner is selected by its readers.
It has been named as the Brits’ preferred holiday destination, despite its great distance and long haul travel requirement.
“The UK has faced some pretty challenging economic conditions over the past few years, which has impacted upon the numbers of Britons coming down to Australia, but this award once again demonstrates the enduring appeal our country has with travellers in the UK," Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said.
"The timing couldn't be much better either, with between 20,000 and 25,000 avid rugby fans from the UK set to hit our shores in the next few weeks for the eagerly awaited British and Irish Lions Tour.
Together with the Ashes cricket series, starting in November, we're expecting to see a big bounce-back in UK arrivals over the next 12 months.
"This is a great win for us, in one of our most important markets. Peer advocacy is so important when it comes to deciding where to holiday, and the readers of the Telegraph align very closely with our target audience in the UK,” he added.
The UK sent 593,600 visitors in 2012, spending $2.9 billion. The spend is anticipated to grow to $6.7 billion by 2020.