Top 20 Aussie destinations for 2011
DESPITE an unsettled year for the Australian tourism industry, the top 20 Aussie destinations for 2011 - based on bookings made through Wotif.com - has remained unchanged from 2010.
Sydney and Melbourne maintained the top spots in 2011 in first and second place respectively, and the Gold Coast retained its grip on third place, leaving Brisbane in fourth for the second year in a row.
Although 2011 was a year of several natural disasters for Queensland, the Sunshine State continued to be the most represented state, with eight destinations in the top 20.
New South Wales also held on to its previous five destinations in the top 20.
Wotif Brands general manager Megan Magill said the list was compiled from more than 250,000 bookings per month made on Wotif.com during 2011.
"We release this list every year and were extremely surprised to see that our top 20 remained the same in 2011 after such a challenging year for the Aussie tourism industry.
"It's great to see everyone managed to maintain their spots, particularly in some of the smaller regions like Port Douglas and Airlie Beach in Queensland that were affected by natural disasters like Cyclone Yasi.
"A lot of hard work from tourism operators over the past 12 months has really paid off," Ms Magill said.
Top 20 Australian Destinations 2011
| Destinations | 2011 | 2010 |
| Sydney | 1 | 1 |
| Melbourne | 2 | 2 |
| Gold Coast | 3 | 3 |
| Brisbane | 4 | 4 |
| Adelaide | 5 | 5 |
| Perth | 6 | 6 |
| Sunshine Coast | 7 | 7 |
| Canberra | 8 | 8 |
| Cairns | 9 | 9 |
| Hobart | 10 | 10 |
| Darwin | 11 | 11 |
| Townsville | 12 | 12 |
| Newcastle | 13 | 13 |
| Launceston and Tamar Valley (TAS) | 14 | 14 |
| Port Douglas | 15 | 15 |
| Port Macquarie | 16 | 16 |
| Coffs Harbour | 17 | 17 |
| Byron Bay | 18 | 18 |
| Mackay | 19 | 19 |
| Airlie Beach | 20 | 20 |
