11055 Best European Destination

In Saturday's Telegraph, it states that Italy is the Best European Travel Destination.
The winners are as follows:-
1. Italy
2. Greek Islands
3. Portugal:Madeira
4. Iceland
5. France
6. Switzerland
If you want to read more go to:- telegraph.co.uk/travel
I was surprised to see Iceland in there and somewhere like Spain that I always thought was popular is not even mentioned!

Anyway, a great award for a great country. :smile:

Francesca

Category
Travel & Holiday Advice

I must say that I am surprised, because figures seem to contradict that poll. Spain should be on the list according to these statistics:

[url]http://www.iese.edu/en/files/IRCO-Informe%20Barclays-%20IESE%20English_tcm4-6135.pdf[/url]

Perhaps the person in charge of the poll did not like Spain......

I would say that Italy, Spain and France are the most popular destinations for British people.

The poll was done by 40,000 questionnaires being sent by e-mail to readers of the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph. So I should imagine the results came from various ages /sexes across the board.
No doubt there will be other polls from other papers/magazines in the future. It will be interesting to see their results.

Francesca

Hi Gala.
The poll that you linked to was dated in 2005, but I could not get the Telegraph poll date. Perhaps a lot has changed in the last 3 years.

The poll was done for this year.

Francesca

Because the poll is based on readers of the Telegraph it is biased towards certain demographics (middle/professional classes, older etc) and so that explains some of the choices. If you look in detail at things like the favourite hotels etc they tend to be VERY expensive 5* hotels, again reflecting the demographics.

Chris

[quote=Geotherm;104359]Hi Gala.
The poll that you linked to was dated in 2005, but I could not get the Telegraph poll date. Perhaps a lot has changed in the last 3 years.[/quote]

I don't think so, I will try to get some current figures but just have a look at the number of Ryanair destinations and the number of flights.....

Right, here we are. The latest figures available would be for 2007 but the crisis would have affected all markets in a proportional manner. According to those figures, the number of British tourists coming to Spain were 16,300,000 out of a total of 60,000,000. And here you have this review dated March 2008.
Now, if anyone can prove that the island of Madeira (Portugal) can be rated third, possibly he/she would be Harry Potter.

[url]http://www.spain.info/NR/rdonlyres/2C7FAB46-CA4A-47B4-9BB2-0F6B4ADB5640/0/step.pdf[/url]

[quote=Gala Placidia;104370].............Now, if anyone can prove that the island of Madeira (Portugal) can be rated third, possibly he/she would be Harry Potter.............. [/quote]

I think the clue is in the word 'best' rather than 'most popular'

[Telegraph readers wouldn't be seen dead in certain parts of Spain]

[Having been to the Costa Almeria on a cheap package - neither would I again]

[But - Madrid and Barcelona - there's a different matter]

.

The Daily Telegraph Poll is just people's opinion so it reflects: where people say is the best destination rather than where they actually go on holiday, the Daily Telegraph Demographics (more A & B socio-economic group; older, wealthier etc) and there is probably an aspirational aspect to it. I completed the questionnaire and I put Australia as the best destination - we went on our honeymoon 11 years ago and it is still my favourite BUT we have children now, we have downsized our jobs so have less money for long haul holidays and I now have a job where I can't get more than two weeks off in the winter (and only at Christmas), therefore even though it is my favourite destination I don't go there. Similarly with favourite cities - the top three would all make it to my top five, along with New York and Kuala Lumpur. If you look at the hotels that people say are the best they are all very expensive - again these may have been stayed at as part of a special (honeymoon, silver wedding etc) holiday NOT as where you normally go. Also because we have children I prefer to stay in self catering as it is more flexible but if I were on holiday with just my husband we are more likely to go to a hotel where we will have more luxury.

You need to be VERY careful in interpreting such surveys - they are often collected for one reason but then released to the press as though they were fact and many journalists just reprint the press release with their byeline. When I see such reports I immediately look at who has written it, what the basis of the actual report was etc.

For authoritative figures on which countries receive the most visitors the best place to look is the [url]http://unwto.org/facts/eng/highlights.htm[/url] which is published by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation - an official source of data which is used extensively by tourism organisations and academics throughout the world.

Chris (Lecturer in Tourism!)

[quote=Gala Placidia;104370]Right, here we are. The latest figures available would be for 2007 but the crisis would have affected all markets in a proportional manner. According to those figures, the number of British tourists coming to Spain were 16,300,000 out of a total of 60,000,000. And here you have this review dated March 2008.
Now, if anyone can prove that the island of Madeira (Portugal) can be rated third, possibly he/she would be Harry Potter.

[url]http://www.spain.info/NR/rdonlyres/2C7FAB46-CA4A-47B4-9BB2-0F6B4ADB5640/0/step.pdf[/url][/quote]

on the original post it talked of the "best" destinations rather than the most popular
i would be very suprised if the two coincided...knowing people.