Travel + Leisure Magazine’s 2011 “World’s Best Awards” Reader’s Poll
For the tenth consecutive year Santa Fe is included in Travel + Leisure (T+L) magazine’s “World’s Best Awards” list of top 10 favorite United States and Canadian travel destinations. For 2011, Santa Fe is ranked as the fifth most popular travel city in North America by the magazine’s travel-savvy readers. In 2008, 2009, and 2010 Santa Fe was also in the poll’s fifth spot while in 2007 Santa Fe ranked fourth. Clearly, Santa Fe remains an enduring favorite with the publication’s large group of sophisticated and passionate travelers.
“In polls over the years Santa Fe has been consistently rated as a travel destination on a par with New York, San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans, and Vancouver among others,” said Jim Bradbury, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Visitors are seeking something genuine and original in their travels and Santa Fe’s history, culture, people, and attractions provide that authenticity. In addition, the city delivers a high degree of customer service that keeps travelers returning to Santa Fe,” he said.
Of Santa Fe, T+L says: “…in this ever-changing city… thick-walled adobe buildings nearly 400 years old stand cheek-by-jowl with avant-garde art galleries and edgy modern restaurants. It’s a reminder that, despite its vibrant population of skiers and hikers, painters and photographers, alternative healers, hippies, and gays, this city is strongly connected to its Spanish-Native American heritage–and to the pristine landscape that surrounds it.”
T+L subscribers were provided questionnaires online from December, 2010 through March, 2011. The responses were tabulated to reach the final results in this, the magazine’s sixteenth annual poll. Cities were rated on 6 criteria: sights, culture/arts, restaurants/food, people, shopping, and value. Scores were compiled using a 1 to 5 rating of each category. A minimum number of responses was required for a city to be eligible for inclusion in the awards listings. Results were announced today online and will appear in the magazine’s August, 2011 issue.
For 2011 the top 10 U.S. and Canadian cities, in Travel & Leisure magazine’s World’s Best Awards are:
1. New York; 2. Charleston, SC; 3. Chicago; 4 San Francisco; 5. SANTA FE; 6 New Orleans; 7 Savannah, GA; 8. Vancouver; 9. Victoria, British Columbia; 10. Quebec City
New York was given an overall score of 88.04. Santa Fe received an overall score of 86.07.