New Zealand Wins ‘Top Country In The World’ Award Voted By British Travellers

New Zealand has topped a list of 168 countries in a satisfaction rating voted for by 2900 readers of Wanderlust magazine, the UK’s leading travel magazine. New Zealand scored a satisfaction rating of 97 per cent to clinch the “Top Country in the World” title.

Bjoern Spreitzer, Tourism New Zealand’s General Manager Americas and Europe said: “This award reflects the incredible effort everyone involved right across the tourism industry is putting in to make sure our visitors have an exceptional holiday experience. Despite the fast growth in visitor numbers the New Zealand tourism industry is still performing at the very highest level.

“And this award isn’t the only good news from the UK as the market is currently growing strongly– in 2015 almost 86,000 visitors chose New Zealand for their holiday, up 11% on the previous year. British visitors are valuable to the economy as their average length of stay is more than three weeks and they spend money in most regions around New Zealand.”

Wanderlust Editor-in-Chief, Lyn Hughes said the results were proof that the lure of New Zealand’s big landscapes, as well as great food, wine and Maori culture, go well beyond the Hobbit effect.