After being listed as the world’s best city for eight out of 10 years, Sydney has been knocked off its pedestal by Florence and Rome, according to the latest travel survey.
The World’s Best Awards survey, conducted by Travel + Leisure magazine, placed Sydney as the fourth most desirable city to visit behind Florence, Rome and Bangkok.
Sydney’s slide prompted calls for increased government spending on tourism after a large cut in this year’s budget – reportedly $4.9 million less than was allocated five years ago.
The managing director of the Australian Tourism Export Council, Matthew Hingerty, blamed a lack of government funding.
“If the Government is not doing its bit then private investment goes elsewhere,” Mr Hingerty said. “Sydney used to be the No. 1 gateway for Japanese tourists. It’s now third behind Cairns and Brisbane. Why is that? Because Sydney doesn’t offer anything new.”
Last month the Premier, Morris Iemma, conceded that Sydney had failed to capitalise on tourism opportunities since the 2000 Olympics. “We ran the biggest and best Olympics of all time. Sydney is a global city and we tended to rest on our laurels,” he said.
