Has the world fallen out of love with Sydney?
The world’s love affair with Sydney has ended, according to one travel magazine which has previously named it the best city in the world.
Sydney has fallen to 11th place in Travel + Leisure magazine’s global list of favourite cities, despite having dominated the survey since it began 13 years ago.
The New South Wales capital has topped the list, which is voted for by the magazine’s readers, a spectacular eight times since 1996. It was fourth last year.
Yet while Sydney dropped from the top 10, Melbourne failed to make it into the top 20.
Sydney remains the number one city in the Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific category, ahead of Melbourne and Queenstown. Tasmania is the most popular island in the region, ahead of the Great Barrier Reef islands.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, value rated highly in this year’s list. India’s Udiapur was voted best, while other affordable cities like Luang Prabang in Laos and Chiang Mai in Thailand made it into the top 10.
“It seems the world’s love affair with Sydney in the lead-up and aftermath to the 2000 Olympics is over,” said the magazine’s editor Anthony Dennis.
“The challenge for Sydney is to fight its way back into the top 10.”
Anthony added: “Sydney’s fall in the rankings reflects the widespread perception that the city has not done enough to sell, and renew, its brand in recent years. Melbourne, too, has more to do in terms of being recognised as a favoured destination for international travellers.”
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