Delhi makes a debut at number 13 on the list, notches above other popular tourist destinations like Goa and Pondicherry in the TripAdvisor's choice destinations award. Goa, which always reigns..
TRIPADVISOR, the world's largest travel site has announced the winners of its Travellers' Choice Destinations Awards for 2011. Running in its third consecutive year now, the winners of the site are based on travellers’ favourite and most visited destinations, as pinned on travel maps found on TripAdvisor website and TripAdvisor’s Facebook application called “Cities I’ve Visited”, where travellers can pin destinations noting them as either favourites or places they have visited
“Today, a large number of travellers rely on TripAdvisor for travel related insights based on user generated content, which also made it possible for us to identify India’s top travel spots” said Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor (India). “The cities named under 2011 Travellers’ Choice Destinations Award offer an interesting summary of locations that travellers love”, he added.
The award saw Leh, named as the No. 1 destination, followed by Varanasi and Manali. That apart, these 3 cities have also been featured on Asia’s top 25 Traveller’s Choice Destinations. Ranked 10th last year, Leh made the huge leap to the top, beating popular tourist destinations like Goa which a witnessed a dramatic fall from its number 4 spot last year to number 16 this year.
Winner of 2010 Travellers’ Choice Destinations Award, Munnar saw a steep drop to number 10 this year. Interestingly, destinations such as Havelock Island, Mysore, Tirupati, Matheran and Sikkim, which featured prominently on the list last year, found no mention this year. Despite local unrest, Srinagar continues to be a preferred destination for travellers at number 14.
Launched a little over 2 years back, TripAdvisor already attracts close to 3 million unique Indian visitors a month. Its popularity as one of the top travel sites in India is owing to its rich content on Indian destinations and hotels, coupled with the growing trend of Indians’ planning their trips based on the experiences of other travellers’.
