Burma Voted Top Emerging Travel Destination

Feb. 3, 2011 - PRLog -- 3 February 2011 - While Namibia may have been voted Top Country for the second year in a row, it was controversial  Myanmar/Burma that went to the top of the travel ‘to do’ list, scooping the Top Emerging Destination award, according to the results just out from the 2011 Wanderlust Readers’ Travel Awards 2011.

In the last six months the country has gone from being the world’s most controversial travel destination to, potentially, its most exciting.  

Over 2000 readers of the magazine voted in the annual poll which also saw Ryanair receive a (not so) special nod as the recipient of the Greatest Disservice to Travel award for its questionable customer service and loophole filled pricing policies, described by one reader as like “flying inside a spam e-mail”.  In a year where travel suffered a series of setbacks, the BA cabin crew strikes, the Icelandic ash cloud, US Customs and Air Passenger Duty all featured in the nominations

Namibia remained the perennial favourite in the Top Country category with the African delight scooping first place for the fourth time in the decade long history of the awards. Its deserts, dunes and canyons, national parks teeming with wildlife and fascinating tribal cultures, high octane activities and accessibility all reasons behind its constant presence in the top spot.  But it was the rainforests, turtles and beaches of new entry Costa Rica knocking Oman from its 2010 number two spot and out of the top ten that confirmed a lust for stunning natural wonders in holiday choices.  Past winner, New Zealand, retained its third place ranking of last year.  A total of 198 countries were nominated by readers.

Lyn Hughes, editor in chief at Wanderlust, says: “I’m not surprised by the thumbs down given to Ryanair given the airline’s apparent low ranking of the customer in its priorities.  On a more positive note I’m delighted to see Namibia honoured again and Burma rising through the ranks as the most exciting destination of 2011.”

Scotland’s West Highland Line achieved a hat trick winning the world’s best rail journey for the third time, trouncing competition from the Orient Express, Eurostar and Rocky Mountaineer.  A new entry for the Settle-Carlisle journey confirmed that UK train travel is increasingly hot.

In line with 2010, this year’s results confirm that websites continue to beat guidebooks in terms of customer satisfaction - with a gap of 14% between the leading guidebook (Bradt -82%) and website (audleytravel.com – 96%).

Full results for all categories can be found at www.wanderlust.co.uk/travelawards

Recognising countries that have received fewer visitors than those in the main country category but have excelled in terms of visitor satisfaction (receiving 97%), the Emerging Destination award puts Myanmar / Burma firmly back on the travel agenda. The release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest in November 2010 saw Burma’s National League for Democracy (NLD) announce it was no longer opposed to all tourism.  In just six months, travel horizons for the country have changed dramatically making it a worthy winner with its natural and man-made sights along with the resilient and welcoming Burmese people capturing the hearts of those who have visited. Runners up in the category were Iran and Bhutan.

Lyn Hughes says: “It’s a moving and hopeful sign to see Burma top the emerging destination poll, showing that travellers’ curiosity has remained unabated during the boycott. Until the recent developments , we have not promoted Burma, respecting the wishes of Josette Vaillancourt, Aung San Suu Kyi’s mother-in-law, who called me directly back in 1994 following a feature in our second ever issue.

Burma is a fragile destination that needs to be treated with care but it is wonderful to see travellers returning and supporting the country.  It’s definitely top of my travel plans this year.”

Luang Prabang in Laos retained first place in the Top City spot (96% rating), closely followed by the Vietnamese city of  Hoi An as a new entry in second place. With Japan’s cultural ‘mecca’ Kyoto in third place – Asia dominated this category. European cities making the top ten were Stockholm and Vienna.  From the 1000 cities scored, Edinburgh made 11th place, while Grimsby, Newquay, Bangor and Dundee came in last with a lowly 20% satisfaction rating.

In the Top Tour Operator category, all but 3 were new entries with Bamboo Travel clinching the top spot. Out of the 700 companies used by readers, Audley Travel came in second and also took first place in the Top Website category.

In the Top TV and Radio category readers voted Simon Reeve’s Tropic of Cancer as the top TV programme and Excess Baggage, BBC Radio 4’s lively Saturday morning travel show their favourite listen.

In aviation, Singapore Airlines secured a hat trick winning Top Major Airline for the third year in a row, with Changi Airport taking Top Worldwide Airport for the tenth consecutive year.

Closer to home, 2010 runner up Southampton Airport took the prize for Top UK Airport with a satisfaction score of 84%. At the other end of the satisfaction spectrum, London’s Heathrow Airport ranked a lowly 30th with a score of 70%, while Southend sat at the very bottom with dismal 20%.

Full results of the Travel Awards will appear in the latest edition of Wanderlust, on sale 17 February, priced £3.99. They are also available online at www.wanderlust.co.uk/travelawards

-ENDS-

For further information or to set up interviews with Lyn Hughes, editor-in-chief, or Dan Linstead, editor, please contact Fiona Reece or Emily Enright at Fiona Reece PR on 0117 973 1517 / 07702 684 682 / 07725 167665 or email fiona@fionareece.com / emily@fionareece.com


EDITORS NOTES

•   About Wanderlust magazine
Wanderlust was launched by Paul Morrison and Lyn Hughes in 1993. The couple were bored on a long flight to South America and decided to sketch out their dream travel magazine on the back of a sick bag. They soon decided that they could do it themselves and there was no other name for it than Wanderlust. Over the last seventeen years the magazine has established itself as the bible for independently minded travellers. Go to www.wanderlust.co.uk to find out more about the magazine and how you can vote for your favourites in travel for 2011.

•   About the Wanderlust Readers’ Travel Awards
In most categories readers were asked to list up to four entries (e.g. countries visited) and score each one on its merits. The final positions were based on an average score for the entry (converted to a percentage) – so the results are based on satisfaction rather than the number of votes received. In the remaining categories (e.g. equipment brand) the number of votes was counted to determine the outcome.