Well, Australia, it doesn’t get much better than this. Our fair country has been marketed to the rest of the world, and the votes are in.
Australia has officially been named as Condé Nast Traveler’s ‘Destination of the Year’. Not top 20, not second, not highly commended. It wasn’t even on a Hot List for honourable mention.
We have nailed it on the head and can now sit back and watch the people flock.
A glorious image of Aussie coastline was splashed across the front cover of America’s leading travel publication, with the January 2016 ‘Gold List’ issue featuring more than 20 pages on the various regions down under, from Sydney and Melbourne to Byron Bay and Tassie, paying tribute to our style, our food and wine, and our beautiful natural attractions.
The magazine, which has a circulation of over 800,000 and total readership of over 2.3 million, hits newsstands in the USA this week and will be promoted digitally in December and January.
Editor in chief Pilar Guzman will also promote the issue in the USA and is planning to celebrate with an event in Sydney.
Tourism Australia managing director, John O’Sullivan, said that being named ‘Destination of Year’ for 2016 by Condé Nast Traveler was a huge accolade for Australia.
“This is an influential and hugely respected travel publication, with a readership in the United States of America which closely matches the profile of our own target audience,” he said.
“The timing couldn’t be better for us either, just weeks away from the launch of our next big global campaign. This will put a renewed focus on Australia’s world-class aquatic and coastal experiences, many of which I’m delighted to see have been highlighted by Condé Nast Traveler as critical elements of our country’s international appeal.”
The USA is Australia’s fourth largest inbound tourism market, with a record 590,000 American visitor arrivals in the last 12 months, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Image: Conde Nast Traveler
