London has won two prestigious accolades at the annual Conde Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2016, London & Partners said in a release.
The UK capital was ranked as the Best UK City for the 6th consecutive time, and Best UK City for Restaurants and Bars for the second consecutive year. The top five UK cities in that order include London, Edinburgh, Bath, Glasgow and Salisbury.
The results of the 19th annual survey are based on millions of votes submitted by readers of the Conde Nast Traveller magazine.
The awards comes as recent research from London & Partners, the Mayor’s official tourism body for London, found last year that international visitors made 18.7 million visits to the city’s cultural centres – nearly 1.8 million more than in 2012. A not-for-profit public private partnership, London & Partners aims to build London’s international reputation and to attract investment and visitor spend, which create jobs and growth.
London’s hotels have also won 12 of the top 15 UK Business Hotels awards, with the Soho Hotel winning silver for best UK Holiday Hotel. Three of the city’s spas also topped the UK Hotel Spas category, viz. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, The Bulgari Spa at Bulgari Hotel & Residences, and ESPA Life at Corinthia Hotel London.
Julie Chappell, Head of Visitlondon.com, the official city guide from London & Partners, said: ‘These awards have come at a perfect time for London, as the capital is primed to stage yet another fantastic blockbuster season of culture – which is the main reason tourists visit the city.
‘London’s culinary scene and nightlife are clearly going from strength to strength, with cuisines from every corner of the globe, eclectic and traditional bars and pubs, and 65 Michelin-star restaurants to enjoy – it’s no surprise that Conde Nast readers have voted for the capital’s bars and restaurants’.
Separate research carried out by TCI Research, an UNWTO accredited company, on behalf of London & Partners, also revealed that London’s thriving tourism industry is set to continue post-Brexit, as two thirds of Americans who visited in the last two years have said that they will definitely return due to a more favourable exchange rate, London & Partners noted. American results are based on a representative sample of 509 respondents from the USA, men and women, aged from 18 to 65, who have visited London at least once over the past two years, it added.
