Back on top: Sydney voted world’s best city

The Harbour City has been named the world’s best city in a survey of Condé Nast Traveller UK readers – a sure sign Australia’s international tourism prospects are looking up, according to one tourism expert.

The coveted top-20 global cities rankings are part of the publication’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards for 2024, which launched on October 1 in the United Kingdom.

Sydney was praised by Conde Nast Traveller UK for its “unique, indoor-outdoor way of life”.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

The New South Wales capital, which ranked no.1 with a score of 92.96, was praised by Conde Nast Traveller UK for its “unique, indoor-outdoor way of life”.

Sydney beat out tourism hotspots spanning five continents, including Valencia in Spain (92.78), Singapore (92.47), Hong Kong (91.72) and Stockholm, Sweden (91.11), which ranked second to fifth place respectively. Scroll down for the full list.

Sydney was also named the world’s second-most friendly city, with a score of 93.85, behind Singapore, with 94.84 points, while Sydney hotel The Fullerton was crowned best hotel in Australasia.

The luxury hotel, housed within the historic 1874 GPO Building, topped the ranking with a score of 98, with Park Hyatt Sydney and boutique stay Halcyon House in Cabarita Beach, NSW, earning second- and third-place rankings.

Historic luxury hotel The Fullerton has been named Australasia’s best hotel.

Conde Nast Traveler US also unveiled its Readers’ Choice Awards this week, with Sydney placing third in the US awards’ list of the best cities in the world, describing it as “an ideal getaway no matter the season”. Australian hotel Ritz-Carlton Melbourne was also named the best hotel in Australia and New Zealand for 2024.

The Condé Nast Traveller UK and Condé Nast Traveler US Readers’ Choice Awards winners were chosen based on the votes of more than half-a-million survey respondents, according to the brand.

With results like that, you’d be forgiven for thinking Sydney was in the midst of an international tourism boom. The reality is somewhat different – overseas visitor numbers are still playing catch-up to pre-pandemic figures.

According to the most recent International Visitor Survey data from Tourism Research Australia, Sydney has welcomed 3,446,000 foreign visitors for the year ending June 2024, a figure still 16 per cent below the same period in 2019.

Iconic views … Park Hyatt Sydney ranked second on the list of Australasia hotels.

John O’Sullivan, chief executive of Experience Co and former Tourism Australia managing director, said the stellar awards results could go a long way to putting Sydney on the radar of high-value international travellers – that is, those likely to spend more, stay longer and travel further within Australia.

“Condé Nast is recognised as one of the world’s premium travel brands with respect to awards,” said O’Sullivan.

“There are more and more [awards] lists coming into circulation, but long-standing brands like Condé Nast are still seen as the very pinnacle of the travel industry awards. There is a section of that high-value or premium traveller that places a lot of credence on those types of awards.”

As tourism continues its post-COVID recovery, tourism bodies around the world are chasing high-value travellers (HVT), said O’Sullivan.

“[Appealing to global awards is] an important part of any tourism board strategy, and it will remain so, particularly as the cost of media advertising continues to rise and the budgets of tourism boards are not keeping up with the cost of inflation or media,” said O’Sullivan.

Both the US and the UK feature among Australia’s top five inbound visitor markets, in third and fifth place respectively in the most recent July ABS data.

While the number of Australians travelling overseas in 2023-24 has bounced back to pre-COVID levels for the first time since international travel restrictions were lifted, according to a new report from the ABS, international visitor arrivals are still at about 80 per cent of pre-COVID levels, based on the most recent July figures.

Top 20 cities in the world, according to Condé Nast Traveller UK

1. Sydney, Australia. Score 92.96
2. Valencia, Spain. Score 92.78
3. Singapore. Score 92.47
4. Hong Kong. Score 91.72
5. Stockholm, Sweden. Score 91.11
6. Tokyo, Japan. Score 91.06
7. Vienna, Austria. Score 90.93
8. Berlin, Germany. Score 90.29
9. Milan, Italy. Score 90.13
10. Budapest, Hungary. Score 89.86
11. Madrid, Spain. Score 89.61
12. Paris, France. Score 89.38
13. Cape Town, South Africa. Score 89.37
14. Chicago, USA. Score 89.35
15. Istanbul, Turkey. Score 89.26
16. Palma, Spain. Score 89.21
17. Las Vegas, USA. Score 89.19
18. Seville, Spain. Score 88.76
19. Marrakech, Morocco. Score 88.63
20. New York, USA. Score 88.02