For the past 23 years, Wanderlust Magazine has given out travel awards to the most desirable locations in the world. They collect millions of votes from world readers and hand out awards to the top spots for food travel, wildlife travel, and more. It's an enlightening breakdown of which experiences voters are interested in as well as which ones they have enjoyed.
For the second year in a row, Australia was named the Most Desirable Country (World) by readers of Wanderlust Magazine. That's no surprise. Australia offers an unparalleled variety of experiences that run from the ocean to the cities to the Outback. Plus, it's also a great place for wildlife/nature tourism in addition to an incredible food and wine scene in several cities across the country.
Canada took second place with Japan coming in third. Both countries have been on a tourism boom since the pandemic, making it no surprise that they are so far up this list. Other nations in the running for Most Desirable Country (World) for 2024 include the USA, New Zealand, Costa Rica, South Africa, Brazil, South Korea, and Peru.
As Wanderlust is based out of the UK, the categories are often broken up into World and Europe. There are also special interest categories, such as Most Desirable Destination for Sustainability which was won by Costa Rica, and Most Desirable Destination for Gastronomy which went to France. Again, not a lot of surprises those aspects are part of their respective cultural identities.
The most interesting award might be Most Desirable Emerging Destination. This year, it was won by Uzbekistan thanks to its ancient cities, unique architecture, and stunning natural beauty. Second place went to Albania and third place to Qatar, signaling some surprising changes in some travelers' tendencies. Perhaps these countries will top future iterations of Wanderlust's annual travel awards.