Sydney slips from Top 10 World's Best Cities List

For the first time since 1996 Sydney has failed to make the Worldâs Best Cities Top 10 list, as voted by the influential readers of Travel + Leisure magazine around the globe in the 2009 World's Best Awards readersâ survey.

The annual World's Best Awards show cities such as Cape Town, Bangkok, New York, Rome and San Francisco ahead of Sydney, with Australia's largest city and tourism gateway coming in at number 11. Sydney had been named the number one World's Best City for eight out of its 13 years on the top 10 list before this year's fall. Melbourne failed to make it into the top 20 World's Best Cities list.

Sydney ranks as the number one city in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific category, ahead of Melbourne and Queenstown. Tasmania is the most popular island in the region, ahead of the Great Barrier Reef.

Unsurprisingly in the current global economic climate, value rates highly in this year's list with affordable cities such as Udiapur, India, Luang Prabang, Laos, Chiang Mai, Thailand and Buenos Aires, Argentina on the list of Top 10 World's Best Cities.

Anthony Dennis, Editor of Travel + Leisure Australia and New Zealand said that "it seems that the world's love affair with Sydney in the lead-up and aftermath to the 2000 Olympics is over, with the challenge for Sydney to fight its way back into the top 10."

"Sydney's fall in the rankings in the prestigious list reflects the widespread perception that the city has not done enough to sell, and renew, its brand in recent years, said Dennis, adding "and it seems that Melbourne, too, has more to do in terms of being recognised as a favoured destination for international travelers."

Dennis said that the results for Australian and New Zealand destinations are doubly interesting since this is the first year that voting has been included from readers of Travel + Leisure's international editions in Australia-New Zealand, China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Mexico, and Turkey.

In the Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific World's Best lodges and resorts section, Australia's Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa and Hayman rank third and fourth respectively. And in the coveted Top 100 Hotels Overall list Melbourne's The Langham and Crown Towers are rated the top two city hotels in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. In the Top International Airlines list, Singapore Airlines is the number one airline ahead of Qatar, Emirates and Japan Airlines, with Air New Zealand at number nine. Qantas did not make the top 10.

For more information go to www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest