[imagesource:telegraph]

In the first Telegraph Travel Awards to be held since 2019 – “thanks” mostly to COVID-19 – a ‘new’ country has ascended to the throne for being the greatest on Earth.

The vote is according to Telegraph readers, with the UK publication also using other metrics across 20 categories, covering everything from airlines and cruise operators to hotel groups and ski companies, to come up with the final results.

“Every year, Telegraph readers vote in significant numbers for their chosen corner of the planet – providing a clear picture of where we travel as a nation, and what we like”, notes the UK publication.

The results are in, and South Africa absolutely dominated, toppling New Zealand out of its ten-year running top spot position, and leaving three other African countries in its wake (AKA the top 10). Laduuuuuumaaaaa, my friends, victory is sweet.

Okay, we won’t rub it in too hard. In a country where the lights go out mid-important action, we Saffas know that this kind of win is as transient as the blossoming of a king protea.

Again, for the last ten years in a row, New Zealand had won the accolade of being the Telegraph’s best country in the world – holding the coveted first place since 2012 (apart from during lockdown when the polls were paused) – with most British tourists wanting to travel there. But now it’s SA’s turn to shine in the sun, named the Greatest Country on Earth by over 30 000 travel enthusiasts, with Cape Town voted as the Best Worldwide City.

SA jumped from fifth place in 2019 to first this year, leaving NZ in second place. Here’s The Telegraph:

“You can fly to two South African cities (Johannesburg, Cape Town) directly from the UK, and arrive free of jet-lag due to a near-identical time-zone.

“Your reward for 12 hours in the air is a place of true beauty – Cape Town a supermodel at the foot of Table Mountain, the Garden Route a ribbon of road-trip nirvana, the wineries of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch crafting fine vintages, the landscape thrilling to the peaks and troughs of the Drakensberg range and Motlatse Canyon, Kruger National Park a roaring wildlife zone.”

Africa as a continent did pretty well this time, with Kenya jumping from 21st to 7th, whilst Botswana dropped from 6th to 10th.

Here is the list of the top 10 greatest countries according to the 2023 Telegraph Travel Awards:

1. South Africa
2. New Zealand
3. Maldives
4. Japan
5. Australia
6. Italy
7. Kenya
8. India
9. Costa Rica
10. Botswana

Lekker, man. Read more here.

[source:telegraph&sapeople]