In partnership with the EDEN network – Sustainable destinations awarded by the European Commission, the 14th edition of the European Best Destinations started on 20 January with 21 days of online voting. Each person can cast one vote per day.
Every year since 2009, “European Best Destinations” pre-selects about 20 destinations among which internet users all over the world can vote their favourite. For this year’s edition, from more than 400 EU destinations promoted on the most visited website dedicated to culture and tourism in Europe, 21 locations have been shortlisted among the “best places to visit and to live in Europe. This selection is based on the cultural and touristic offer of the destinations as well as their quality of life, their sustainable development and growth of popularity on social networks during the past 12 months.
For the past 14 years, “European Best Destinations” has been working with major European tourist offices to showcase the beauty of Europe. From iconic capitals, cosmopolitan cities, to hidden charming locations surrounded by nature, warming locals and interesting food, there’s no doubt that Europe has a vast amount of richness in culture and traditions.
Once the voting period ends, 20 destinations are named Europe’s best for the year, with the winner enjoying a special place European Best Destination’s website until 31 December, as well as being promoted by the project’s media partners.
“The media value per destination has been estimated at + 1,6 million euros (up to 10 million euros for the 1st ranked destination) and the tourist growth of + 15% (average) for the promoted destinations”, the CEO of European Best Destinations, Maximilien Lejeune, told Travel Tomorrow when asked about the value of such competitions.
Last year, the winner was Ljubljana, collecting a total of 75,000 votes. The Slovenian capital set a record, being the destination with the largest share of votes from outside its own country in the history of the competition. Even more impressive, over half of the votes were from outside Europe, Ljubljana being the preferred destination of American travellers.
These are the finalists for the title of European Best Destination in 2023:
- London, UK
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Faial, Portugal
- Soller, Spain
- Warsaw, Poland
- Porto Santo, Portugal
- Athens, Greece
- Toledo, Soain
- Milos, Greece
- Ascona-Locarno, Switzerland
- Tossa de Mar, Spain
- Mariborm, Slovenia
- Cittadella, Italy
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Rhodes, Greece
- Veszprem, Hungary
- Mannheim, Germany
- Essen, Germany
- Delft, Netherlands
- Vienna, Austria
- Grenoble Alpes, France
