Cairns tops Queensland Tourist destinations according to travellers

Global travel site, TripAdvisor, ranked Cairns as Queenslands top holiday spot ahead of Surfers Paradise in its Travellers Choice Destination Awards for 2011.

Sydney ranked #2 in the world which is awesome, a great outcome for Cairns and Australia more generally.  Only Sydney made it into the world wide top 10, but Australia dominated the South Pacific region, with Sydney coming in at No.1, Melbourne, Perth, Byron Bay and Cairns taking out numbers 3 t0 6 respectively.  Cape Town, South Africa took out the number 1 spot with international super-destinations like Machu Picchu, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Rome & London in the worldwide top 10.

Tourism Essential for Cairns, Queensland and Australia

“Tourism is vital to the Australian economy so it's encouraging to see Sydney at number two in the global table, outshining significant tourism hotspots such as Paris, New York and London,” said TripAdvisor's Emma O'Boyle.  We would add that this is an impressive result for Cairns as an iconic tourist destination within Queensland and Australia.  Hopefully Queensland Tourism continues their strong support for the Cairns travel industry.

 

2011 Travelers' Choice World Destinations:

1. Cape Town, South Africa

2. Sydney, Australia

3. Machu Picchu, Peru

4. Paris, France

5. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

6. New York City, United States

7. Rome, Italy

8. London, United Kingdom

9. Barcelona, Spain

10. Hong Kong, China

Top 10 South Pacific destinations:

1. Sydney, Australia

2. Queenstown, New Zealand

3. Melbourne, Australia

4. Perth, Australia

5. Byron Bay, Australia

6. Cairns, Australia

7. Auckland, New Zealand

8. Milford Sound, New Zealand

9. Papeete, French Polynesia

10. Christchurch, New Zealand

 

Read about Cairns winning Queensland Travel award at Cairns Post:http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/sydney-named-worlds-secondbest-destination-20110504-1e7i3.html

Excerpt Below

TripAdvisor rates Cairns as Queensland's No. 1 spot for holidays

GET out of the way Surfers Paradise, the world's travellers rate Cairns as Queensland's top holiday destination.

“Cairns is the perfect city for merry revellers, passionate divers and adrenalin junkies, offering booming nightlife and heart-pounding adventure amid a vibrant, tropical setting,” TripAdvisor spokeswoman Emma O’Boyle said.

“This friendly Queensland city of 130,000 is a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, Daintree National Park, Cape Tribulation, Cooktown and the rest of Cape York Peninsula.”

She described Port Douglas as the “culinary gem” of Queensland.

“Tuck into succulent five-star meals in Port Douglas, the culinary gem of Queensland, or suck down a killer cocktail at a casually swanky lounge,” Ms O’Boyle said.

Deep Sea Divers Den day trips were rated the No. 1 attraction in the Far North.

Divers Den marketing manager John Brown said they were “absolutely delighted” to be ranked first in attractions.

“Cairns has come through a very tough period and this sort of positive news is what we need,” he said.