The Wharekauhau Country Estate was named the best resort in the Pacific and Australia by Conde Nast's reader awards.
The Wharekauhau Country Estate was named the best resort in the Pacific and Australia by Conde Nast's reader awards.
Conde Nast Traveler has named a luxury country resort in the South Wairarapa as one of the best in the world - a position supported by the fact its readers voted New Zealand as one of the world’s friendliest countries.
The US guide for up-scale travel plans has published its 36th annual Readers’ Choice Awards, and there have been some minor changes to the awards.
Asking for votes and open nominations on travel experiences around the world the editors created categories that best reflect what travellers were looking for, of which there were 526,518 individual nominations.
Assessing every aspect of travel from carry-on luggage to private islands, there was one Kiwi property that came out on top.
Wharekauhau Country Estate was “thrilled” to be voted the best resort in the Pacific and Australia.
The publication’s Top Countries to Visit in 2023 was “dominated” by Europe - “matching what we were hearing anecdotally”, they said. There were some breakout trends that loomed out of the awards’ Mediterranean obsession.
Scored out of 100, Japan top spot with an average score of 92.43. New Zealand which ranked fifth, with a score of 90.43, was the only other non-European destination to feature in the top 10.
Where does NZ rank in the Manaakitanga league table? Photo /Tourism NZ
Where is the world’s friendliest country?
The UK sister publication CN Traveller - which runs its own simultaneous breakdown of reader results - also scored New Zealand highly in its awards.
“2023 was the year we recalibrated what was really important,” said the UK editorial staff. The two topics, top of mind for the UK Conde Nast were food and friendliness.
However, once again, New Zealand made it into the top ten friendliest countries.
“From the ever-beaming people of Ireland to the famously open-armed population of New Zealand, our planet is home to some seriously friendly countries, ready to share their love for their country with you,” said Conde Nast.
With a score of 95.16, Aotearoa landed as the seventh in the world for most welcoming locals, down four places from 2022.
However manaakitanga league table was topped by Dominica in the Caribbean, for the warm welcome granted by its “dramatic coastline and colourful hamlets.”
