India numero uno travel destination: Survey

Described once as a land of snake charmers, India has now emerged as the numero uno travel destination trailing beauties of Italy, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, according to survey by a tourism magazine.

Described once as a land of snake charmers, India has now emerged as the numero uno travel destination trailing beauties of Italy, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, according to survey by a tourism magazine.

India’s rise from the fourth spot last year was contained in a survey conducted by a widely-read British magazine Conde Nest Traveller, which gives away Readers Travel Awards, considered to be the Oscar awards of the tourism industry.

“India was the 10th most preferred destination in 2004, 4th in 2006 and is now at the top in 2007 and that is where we want to be,” Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said while receiving the award at a ceremony in London on Monday night.

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Conducted among the readers of the magazine that includes some of the most sophisticated and avid travellers across the world, the survey included a range of criteria for each category from ‘range of accommodation’ to ‘environmental friendliness’, the magazine said in a release.

In the April issue of the magazine, readers were asked for nominations for the world’s best hotels, spas, cities, airports, cruise lines and tour operators and to rate them. To discern their list of ‘best of the best’, each nomination was ranked to produce the world’s Top 100 in each field.

The replies were then collated and analysed by an independent market research company before giving away with the awards.

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