Lonely Planet Ranking
Bangladesh ‘Best Value Destination’
Bangladesh has been ranked number one in Lonely Planet’s list of the Best-Value Destinations for 2011.
The list is included the leading travel guidebook publisher’s Best in Travel 2011 publication, coming out this week, and draws on the “knowledge, passion and miles travelled” by Lonely Planet staff, authors, and 600,000-strong online community to present the best places to go and things to do around the world to its readers.
More details behind the rationale for the ranking are expected to emerge in the coming days, with a briefing on the best-value list.
But judging from recent editions of the list, it should not be perceived as one containing only ‘cheap’ destinations. Rather, the list is based on travellers “getting their money’s worth.”
Last year’s list included destinations like Iceland, London, Malaysia and Las Vegas.
Previously, Bangladesh had been named as one of the 10 Interesting Destinations 2009, where it was described as “a revelation that actually leaves cousin India looking a bit worse for wear.”
Lonely Planet also brings out travel guidebooks on individual countries every few years. The last edition on Bangladesh came out in 2008 and the next one is due in November 2011. It describes Bangladesh as a “can-do country of open-hearted people, tigers, tea plantations and the world’s longest beach.”
It also pays tribute to the country’s resilience in the face of natural disasters, and the introduction to Bangladesh on the Lonely Planet website brands it as a “trend-setting, breathtaking and hardworking” country that others can learn from.
Best in Travel 2011 includes seventeen ‘Top 10’ lists, covering standard topics like the best cities, best experiences, as well as quirky ones like ‘Top 10 Countries that didn’t exist twenty years ago.’
Almost every country that receives a positive treatment across any of the Lonely Planet platforms experiences a subsequent boost in tourism, and “Best-Value Destinations” is one of the most popular lists in the travel annual, closely followed by backpackers, students and other budget-travellers.
Owned by BBC Worldwide, Lonely Planet is the largest travel guidebook and digital media publisher in the world.
