Best in Travel 2018 is Lonely Planet's 13th annual agenda-setting collection of the world's hottest destinations, experiences and trends for the year ahead.  The best-selling inspirational travel yearbook highlights the top 10 countries, cities and regions that Lonely Planet's experts recommend travellers experience in 2018.

New Zealand is ranked fifth on the book's list of Top 10 Countries 2018.

“Twenty-five years ago, long before it was retrofitted to resemble Middle-earth, New Zealand began actively attracting adventure-seekers,” Lonely Planet explains. “A sweet suite of trails, the Great Walks, encouraged exploration of the country's exquisite topography, taking tramping travellers through some of the world's most extraordinary wilderness.”

“In 2018,” Lonely Planet continues, “for the first time since the nine-track network was launched, a new Great Walk will be under construction: the Paparoa Track which will include the Pike29 Memorial Track. This 55km route, which commemorates 29 miners killed in 2010, wends between Blackball and Punakaiki on the South Island's West Coast, passing through Paparoa National Park, and will offer hikers and mountain bikers a sensational experience.”

Lonely Planet's Top 10 Countries 2018 are:

1. Chile
2. South Korea
3. Portugal
4. Djibouti
5. New Zealand
6. Malta
7. Georgia
8. Mauritius
9. China
10. South Africa

Lonely Planet's writers and experts spend time on the road in almost every destination on the planet, and each year they report which destinations are set to take off, offering travellers the best experience available. The destinations selected for Best in Travel meet specific criteria.

It could be that something special is going on in the year ahead, or there's been recent development and a lot of buzz about the place; that it offers travellers new things to see or do; or that the Lonely Planet team of experts thinks it's been overlooked and underrated and suggests travellers visit before the crowds do.

Other Best in Travel 2018 highlights include:

• The Top 10 Cities to visit in 2018: Seville, Spain; Detroit, USA; Canberra, Australia; Hamburg, Gemany; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Antwerp, Belgium; Matera, Italy; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Guanajuato, Mexico; and Oslo, Norway.
  
  
• The Top 10 Regions to visit in 2018: Belfast & the Causeway Coast, Northern Ireland; Alaska, USA; Julian Alps, Slovenia; Languedoc-Roussillon, France; Kii Peninsula, Japan; Aeolian Islands, Italy; Southern USA; Lahaul & Spiti, India; Bahia, Brazil; and Los Haitises National Park, Dominican Republic.

Deciding what to include in Lonely Planet's Best in Travel annual selection is a considered process involving the whole of Lonely Planet's community: from its writers and editors all the way to its online family of bloggers and tweeters. Each year, they come up with hundreds of places that are not to be missed. These are then whittled down by a panel of in-house travel experts who shortlist in line with criteria such as topicality, excitement and wow-factor.

www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel features all of the Best in Travel 2018 destinations and additional advice on visiting them. Four videos accompany each of the number one destinations to reveal why they were selected the top spots for travel in 2018; all captured using GoPro equipment by Lonely Planet's experts on the road. Travellers can also enter a My Best in Travel video competition via the website to win return flights for two to the number one country Chile and a GoPro Hero6 Black provided by this year's sponsor, GoPro.

LONELY PLANET'S BEST IN TRAVEL 2018
208pp, full colour, 180mm x 145mm, paperback, NZ$26.99 

NOTES TO EDITORS

• Further information is available at lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel
• Lonely Planet spokesperson Chris Zeiher is available for interview from Australia.
• Selected extracts & images available with permission.
• Twitter: #BestinTravel
• This year's global sponsor for Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2018 is GoPro.

ABOUT LONELY PLANET

Travel media company Lonely Planet is the world's leading guidebook publisher, providing inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, Lonely Planet has cultivated a dedicated traveller community and printed more than 148 million books across 13 different languages to most destinations on the planet. The Lonely Planet ecosystem also includes digital and mobile apps, a comprehensive ebook portfolio, nine international magazines and an award-winning website. Visit us at lonelyplanet.com, and join us on Facebook (facebook.com/lonelyplanet), Twitter (@lonelyplanet), Instagram (instagram.com/lonelyplanet) and Snapchat (@lonely.planet).

LONELY PLANET MEDIA CONTACT

Laura Hamilton, Acting Manager, Media & Communications (Asia-Pacific)

laura.hamilton@lonelyplanet.com.au / +61 (0) 3 8379 8000 / 0419 572 039