Winners Announced in the Wanderlust 2012 Travel Awards

Exotic destinations make their mark in this year’s Wanderlust Travel Awards – voted for by the readers of Wanderlust Magazine.

Japan, Laos, and Sudan were all winners in the 2012 Wanderlust Travel Awards.

Voted for by readers of the Wanderlust Travel Magazine, this year’s annual awards showed a new trend towards exotic destinations.
Japan proved that travellers haven’t been deterred by the recent tsunami by walking away with the Top Country award. Japan’s satisfaction rating of 97 per cent beat New Zealand and Burma to the post, which came third and fourth respectively.

In the Top City category, Luang Prabang reigned king by scooping up the Top City award for a second consecutive year. The Laos city only just beat Japan’s Kyoto with a 97 per cent rating.

Read our highlights from the show

Meanwhile, the nominations for Emerging Destination were equally as exotic. Travellers looking to visit up-and-coming destinations before anyone else should look to Sudan, Greenland and Mongolia, according to the readers of Wanderlust.

Lyn Hughes, editor in chief at Wanderlust, commented: “the travel map is rapidly changing but this year’s readers seemed to really be ahead of the crowd when it came to destinations.

“‘If done responsibly, visiting countries after a disaster can be hugely beneficial for them. I really hope these results are indicative of support these areas will receive from travellers as they get back on their feet,”’ she added.

Closer to home, London City is the UK’s favourite place to fly from – ranking 87 per cent in the UK Airport category. Although it didn’t fare quite as well in the Top City awards, London still holds a place in our hearts as the UK’s Top City.