India crowned World’s No. 1 Travel Destination!

The leading UK Authority, Condé Nast Traveler UK, has announced that India tops the list of preferred travel destination in the world.

This feat has been achieved for the first time in history of Indian Tourism. Surely, it is great moment and pride for all of us Indians and we should rejoice it whole heartedly.

I had earlier written about the rapid strides India has made in travel and tourism sector. The Incredible India campaign remains to be one of the best International campaigns to come out of India.

Taj Mahal being voted as one of the top 7 new wonders of the world also has also helped the cause of Indian Tourism.

Last 4 years has seen India rise from 10th most preferred destination in 2004, the 4th in 2006 and is now at the top in 2007.

Here are the top 5 rankings of most preferred travel destinations in the World as published by Condé Nast Traveler UK

1. India
2. Italy
3. Thailand
4. Australia
5. New Zealand

According to me, the biggest achievement for India has been the Global change of perception about India. Honestly speaking, no one refers to India as third world country any more. India is referred to as the emerging global super-power. Indian companies are now becoming MNCs in their own right. India is not only the preferred Travel destination, but also one of the most favored Business destinations of the world. It is amply visible from the amount of foreign companies making its foray into India in recent times.

Details about the Survey done.

The survey besides being inserted into the April 2007 issue of all 26,600 UK subscriber copies and 33,000 UK newsstand copies of CN Traveller (which went on-sale on 8th March) was also live on the cntraveller.com website for this period. The replies were collated and analysed by an independent market-research company, Market Management.

The nominations were judged on a range of criteria particular to each category, from ‘range of accommodation’ to ‘environmental friendliness’.
The influx of British tourisms to India is growing with every passing year and the respondents to this survey are some of the most sophisticated and avid travelers across the world. They form an integral part of the discerning and growing numbers of readers of this widely read magazine, which is considered to be the leading authority on travel and tourism in the UK.