Sydney and Melbourne have both won accolades at the annual US Conde Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards, one of the world's premier travel publications and voted on by 28,000 American readers.
"Sydney polled the highest of all cities around the world beating San Francisco, Florence and Bangkok," Fran Bailey, Minister for Small Business and Tourism, said this week.
"Sydney is seen by Americans as being exciting, diverse and friendly - with a great range of things to do and see. It is also a gateway to Australia and the vast attractions that we have to offer.
"Conde Nast Traveller is one of the world's premier travel publications, delivering travel news to the all-important North American market. This is fantastic news for Sydney and the Australian tourism industry."
Cities were rated on ambience, culture and sites, friendliness, lodging, restaurants and shopping.
"Sydney and Melbourne earned first and second place in the Pacific Rim Region and Sydney topped the polls in friendliness. It was also great news that nine out of the ten best hotels in the Pacific Rim were in Australia," Fran Bailey said.
"Last year, Tourism Australia hosted over 800 journalists in Australia as part of its Visiting Journalist Program, generating pages and pages of quality editorial content on Australia in some of the world's best travel magazines, including Conde Nast Traveller."
The annual US Conde Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards poll analyses the travel preferences of the magazine's readership in various categories including cities, islands, airlines, cruise lines, hotels, spas, resorts and rental cars. Complete results will be published in the November 2005 issue.
In 2005, the American tourism market was worth an estimated $1.8 billion, with 456,000 Americans expected to visit Australia.
