York Beats London to be Crowned UK's Best Food and Wine Destination

LONDON, October 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- York and Edinburgh European Winners in TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice Food and Wine Destinations

TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel site, today announces the winners of its Travellers' Choice Food and Wine Destinations awards, as decided by travellers themselves.  In a nod to the UK's culinary prowess, two British destinations made the European top 10 - York and Edinburgh - placing fifth and tenth respectively, while London was conspicuous in its absence.

Italy dominates claiming five of the top 10 spots, including Florence in first place.  Spain boasts two cities in the list, while the time-honoured food and wine capital of the world, France, only has one entry with Paris.  

"These awards recognise Europe's best food and wine destinations according to millions of TripAdvisor travellers.  With tough competition from destinations renowned for their culinary expertise, the UK should be proud to claim two top 10 spots, with York now well and truly establishing its place on Europe's gastro tourism map," commented Emma Shaw, TripAdvisor spokesperson.  

York Flies Foodie Flag for UK

Taking fifth place in Europe, York claims Britain's top spot in the gastronomy stakes.  Its annual York Food and Drink Festival, celebrating local food and good wine, this year brought in approximately half a million visitors, cementing York as a true foodie destination.  

Gillian Cruddas MBE, Chief Executive of Visit York said, "We are delighted by this news.  York really is a foodie haven with so many quality local producers, award winning restaurants and speciality markets.  We have just enjoyed the city's most successful festival of food and drink ever, where we had everything on the menu from Yorkshire reared venison with chocolate sauce to mouth-watering Wensleydale cheeses."

"We are delighted with this accolade which is a tribute to York and Yorkshire's great food producers and chefs."

Enticing Edinburgh

Proving that Scotland clearly has more to offer than haggis and deep-fried Mars bars, Edinburgh is officially named one of Europe's ten best cities for food and wine.  Scotland's capital is a foodie haven, offering cuisines from all over the world and good restaurants to suit any budget.

TripAdvisor's 2011 Travellers' Choice Food and Wine Destinations - European Top Ten:

1. Florence, Italy
2. Paris, France
3. Rome, Italy
4. Sorrento, Italy
5. York, UK
6. Siena, Italy
7. Bologna, Italy
8. San Sebastian, Spain
9. Barcelona, Spain
10. Edinburgh, UK

"Britain can now lay claim to two of Europe's best food and wine destinations. For years other nationalities have derided Britain's gastronomic credentials so let's hope this marks the demise of the outdated bad food reputation. With world-famous chefs, cuisines from all over the planet and restaurants to suit every budget, Britain has earned its stripes as a foodie haven."

TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice winners are based on the millions of reviews and opinions from travellers around the world.  Winners were determined based on the most highly rated food and wine destinations by travellers in TripAdvisor reviews.

About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and Instant Personalization) with seamless links to booking tools.

TripAdvisor® Media Group, operated by TripAdvisor LLC, attracts more than 65 million unique monthly visitors* across 19 popular travel brands**. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 50 million unique monthly visitors***, 20 million members, and over 50 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide****, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also operates TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor's millions of monthly visitors. The division includes Business Listings, which allows hoteliers to connect directly to millions of researching travelers, and Vacation Rentals, which helps property managers and individual home owners list their properties and showcase hotel alternatives.

TripAdvisor Media Group websites have been recognized as top travel resources in 2010 by Condé Nast Traveller, Good Housekeeping, TIME magazine and Travel + Leisure.

TripAdvisor Media Group generated $486 million in revenue in 2010.  TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Group are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE).

TripAdvisor and the TripAdvisor logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

©2011 TripAdvisor LLC. All rights reserved.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Media Group Sites, Worldwide, July 2011

** In addition to TripAdvisor, The TripAdvisor Media Group of websites includes: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com, http://www.bookingbuddy.com, http://www.cruisecritic.com, http://www.everytrail.com, http://www.familyvacationcritic.com, http://www.flipkey.com, http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk, http://www.holidaywatchdog.com, http://www.independenttraveler.com, http://www.onetime.com, http://www.seatguru.com, http://www.sniqueaway.com, http://www.smartertravel.com, http://www.travel-library.com, http://www.travelpod.com, http://www.virtualtourist.com, http://www.whereivebeen.com, and http://www.kuxun.cn.

***Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, July 2011

**** TripAdvisor sites operate in 30 countries worldwide: http://www.tripadvisor.com, http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk, http://www.tripadvisor.ca, http://www.tripadvisor.it, http://www.tripadvisor.es, http://www.tripadvisor.de, http://www.tripadvisor.fr, http://www.tripadvisor.jp, http://www.daodao.com, http://www.tripadvisor.in, http://www.tripadvisor.se, http://www.tripadvisor.nl, http://www.tripadvisor.com.br, http://www.tripadvisor.com.tr, http://www.tripadvisor.dk, http://www.tripadvisor.com.mx, http://www.tripadvisor.ie, http://www.tripadvisor.com.au, http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg, http://www.tripadvisor.co.kr, no.tripadvisor.com, pl.tripadvisor.com, th.tripadvisor.com, http://www.tripadvisor.ru, http://www.tripadvisor.com.gr, http://www.tripadvisor.co.id, http://www.tripadvisor.com.ar, http://www.tripadvisor.tw, http://www.tripadvisor.com.my, and http://www.tripadvisor.com.eg.