Wanderlust Magazine Announces Winners of 2019 Reader Travel Awards

~Namibia clinches Top Country spot, Uzbekistan voted Top Emerging Destination and Sir Michael Palin honoured as Icon of Travel~

Namibia's otherworldly red deserts, unique tribal culture and wildlife that roams its dramatic plains are just some of the reasons why this African nation clinched the Top Country spot in the Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards 2019, while Sir Michael Palin was also honoured as an Icon of Travel.

The awards were presented at a special event hosted at Destinations: The Holiday and Travel Show at Olympia on 31st January 2019. Wanderlust Magazine's Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Lyn Hughes was joined by broadcaster, presenter and author Kate Humble to honour the best in travel.

Namibia last achieved top spot in 2014, with the country frequently appearing in the top ten destinations over the last few years.

Hughes commented on the destination: “Having tracked rhinos there, I can personally testify that this country is a conservation success story, with wildlife still flourishing both inside and outside the national parks, really adding to the visitor experience.”

Japan just pipped perennial favourite New Zealand to silver position in the Top Country category, after gaining positions over the last few years in the awards. Plus, for only the second time ever, Indonesia features in the top 10. This is great news following Garuda's recent announcement of direct flights from London to Bali this year. 

Uzbekistan makes its Travel Awards debut as Top Emerging Destination, with its ancient cities, scented bazaars and 'Silk Road' caravanserai finding favour among travellers.

“The recent move to waive visas for Brits travelling to Uzbekistan has definitely added to its appeal for our readers. Together with Iran, voted second, and last year's winner Kyrgyzstan, coming in third, the top three countries in this category show what an adventurous group Wanderlust readers are,” added Hughes. 

“In an increasingly over-touristed and homogenised world, travellers are looking for destinations with more than a whiff of authenticity. There has been a renewed interest in Central Asia and anywhere connected with the 'Silk Road' following the huge success of Joanna Lumley's TV series in 2018 (a close runner-up in our 'Top TV & Radio Programme' category), which highlighted the whole region,” concluded Hughes.

It comes as no surprise that the Icon of Travel award goes to Sir Michael Palin, the Python-turned-presenter whose hilarious yet hard-hitting travelogues have had us gripped for almost 30 years. “Once you're bitten by the travel bug, it's always itching away,” he once told Wanderlust in an interview.

Luang Prabang wins Top City once again. For many years it held gold in this category, and, after a three-year hiatus, it has finally regained its crown. Meanwhile, Spain has made its mark in the top three, with only a whisker separating Granada and perennial favourite Seville. Other entries in this category include Cape Town, Krakow and two British cities, with Edinburgh making the top ten for the fourth time alongside first-time entrant York. 

It's clear that the wilder the spot, the better, as we see the Scottish Highlands continue to climb in the Best UK Destination category, nudging Northumberland from top spot to take this year's title for the first time. Edinburgh, once more, remains the only city in the UK destination top 10, while Snowdonia, the Lake District and New Forest – all untamed beauties — also make the grade again.

The finalists were rated by 2,422 Wanderlust readers with a total of 8,228 votes in the Top Country category alone, highlighting the magazine's reach.

For the 18th consecutive awards, Singapore Changi wins the Top Worldwide Airport category, followed by Hong Kong International Airport, an ever-expanding base that welcomed 74.7 million passengers last year. Other entrants include Sydney, Beijing Capital International and Copenhagen.

Other category winners are as follows:

Top Tour Operator: The joint winners are Holiday Architects and Llama Travel, both scoring a perfect 100% satisfactory rating for another year running.

Top Airline: Air New Zealand retains first place (94.22%).

Top UK Airport: With no change in first and second place, London City (85.54) and Southampton are still going strong. Newcastle has taken Bristol's place in third.

Top Guidebook Series: Bradt wins for the fifth time in the awards' history. 

Top TV or Radio Programme: Simon Reeve's Mediterranean takes first place, closely followed by Joanna Lumley's Silk Road Adventure.

Top Equipment Brand: Rab (90.8%) moves up from fourth, seeing Paramo's winning streak end.

Full results of the Travel Awards will appear online at www.wanderlust.co.uk/travelawards2019 and will then feature in the April edition of Wanderlust, on sale on 14 March 2019, priced £4.5

-ENDS-

For further information or to set up interviews with Editor-in-Chief Lyn Hughes, please contact Fiona Reece at Travel Tonic on 01452 346116 / 07702 684682 or email fiona@traveltonic.co.u

EDITOR'S NOTES

• About Wanderlust magazine

Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Wanderlust was launched by Paul Morrison and Lyn Hughes in 1993. The couple were bored on a long flight to South America and decided to sketch out their dream travel magazine on the back of a sick bag. They soon decided that they could do it themselves and there was no other name for it than Wanderlust. Over the last 25 years the magazine has established itself as the bible for independently-minded and curious travellers. Go to www.wanderlust.co.uk to find out more about the magazine and how you can vote for your favourites in travel for 2020.

• About the Wanderlust Readers' Travel Awards

The awards are based on readers' travels from December 2017 to November 2018. Results are based on an average satisfaction score (converted to a percentage) rather than the number of votes cast. An entry required a minimum number of votes to be considered. In categories where no percentage is shown, results are based on the number of votes cast.

Full results at www.wanderlusttravelawards.co.uk

Full Results for 2019 Awards below and over next few pages: 

% score based on satisfaction rating

 

	Top Country 2019
1	Namibia	97.69
2	Japan	95.78
3	New Zealand	95.75
4	Iceland	94.44
5	Chile	94.05
6	Costa Rica	93.86
7	South Africa	93.72
8	Indonesia	93.42
9	Peru	93.33
10	Sri Lanka	93.10

 

	Top Emerging Destination 2019
1	Uzbekistan	94.67
2	Iran	94.44
3	Kyrgyzstan	94.38
4	Bolivia	94.17
5	Rwanda	93.33

 

 

 

	Top Tour Operator 2019
1=	Holiday Architects	100
1=	Llama Travel	100
3	Selective Asia	97.03
4	Bamboo Travel	96.67
5	Intrepid Travel	91.78
6	Wild Frontiers	90.33
7	Trailfinders	88.57
8	G Adventures	86.75
9	Exodus Travels	86.25
10	Audley	85.08

 

 

	Top City (Worldwide) 2019
1	Luang Prabang	95.25
2	Granada	94.78
3	Seville	94.62
4	Cape Town	94.44
5	Krakow	94.08
6	Edinburgh	93.91
7	Kyoto	93.56
8	Venice	93.23
9	Copenhagen	92.92
10	York	92.84

 

 

 

	Top Airline 2019
1	Air New Zealand	94.22
2	Emirates	91.31
3	Singapore Airlines	91.22
4	Qatar Airways	90.22
5	Turkish Airlines	88.78
6	Qantas	87.51
7	Virgin Atlantic	86.55
8	Sri Lankan Airlines	86.14
9	KLM	82.53
10	Lufthansa	82.16

 

 

 

	Top Worldwide Airport 2019
1	Singapore Changi	92.22
2	Hong Kong International	88.10
3	Dubai International	83.96
4	Istanbul Ataturk	83.42
5	Amsterdam Schiphol	82.81
6	Kuala Lumpur International	82.47
7	Copenhagen	81.47
8	Sydney	81.36
9	Beijing Capital International	81.24
10	Barcelona-El Prat	80.45

 

 

 

	Top UK Airport 2019
1	London City	85.54
2	Southampton	84.44
3	Newcastle International	83.54
4	London Heathrow	80.36
5	Edinburgh	79.69
6	Birmingham	76.71
7	London Gatwick	76.61
8	Liverpool (John Lennon)	75.20
9	Belfast City	75.14
10	Aberdeen International	75.08

 

 

 

	Top UK destination 2019
1	Scottish Highlands	94.90
2	Lake District	94.80
3	Snowdonia	93.90
4	New Forest	93.50
5	North Yorkshire	93.10
6	Peak District	92.30
7	Yorkshire	92.10
8	Cotswolds	91.20
9	Edinburgh	91.00
10	Northumberland	90.90

 

 

 

 

	Top Guidebook Series 2019
1	Bradt	84.50
2	Lonely Planet	83.40
3	DK Eyewitness	81.80
4	Rough Guides	79.40
5	Time Out	77.60
6	Cicerone	77.10
7	Insight	77.00
8	Marco Polo	75.00
9	Footprint	74.30
10	Blue Guides	70.10

 

	Top Equipment Brand 2019
1	Rab	90.80
2	Osprey	89.80
3	Patagonia	89.30
4	Pacsafe	87.30
5	Rohan	87.00
6	Arc'Teryx	86.90
7	Fjällräven	86.60
8	Smartwool	85.60
9	The North Face	85.50
10	Keen	85.10

 

	Top TV or Radio Programme 2019
1	Mediterranean with Simon Reeve
2	Joanna Lumley's Silk Road Adventure
3	48 Hour Travel Man
4	Blue Planet II
5	Michael Palin in North Korea     Icon of Travel   Sir Michael Palin