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Lyon voted Europe's leading city break destination at the World Travel Awards

Lyon voted Europe's leading city break destination at the World Travel Awards

Leisure Tourism

Publication date : 23/08/2022

At the World Travel Awards ceremony held last night in Sardinia, Lyon won the Oscar for ‘ Europe's Leading City Break Destination’ in the face of competition from cities such as Athens, Dublin and Lisbon. This trophy, which awards tourism excellence, represents the culmination of an exemplary territorial marketing strategy, deployed under the banner ONLYLYON over the past ten years, to make the city one of the best weekend destinations in Europe.

Full involvement from all actors

This success rewards the commitment of public authorities, regional media, sports clubs and the network of 23,000 ONLYLYON ambassadors located throughout the world, who have supported Lyon’s bid with strength and conviction.

This mobilisation also made wide use of social networks, because over the weeks, more than two million people were reached and, while votes from tourism professionals played a major role in the election, visitors and fans of Lyon were also able to support their favoured destination.

Lastly, calls to vote from local personalities were met with great success at both national and international level, with the involvement of celebrities such as Tony Parker, Thierry Marx and Alexandre Lacazette.

Lyon – a highly popular weekend destination

This award strengthens the Lyon urban area’s international standing and rewards the tourism development strategy conducted by ONLYLYON Tourism over the past ten or so years, based on the promotion of short stays.

Lyon has all the necessary ingredients for a great weekend, centred on the inimitable French art of living: 2000 years of history, listed as UNESCO world heritage, world-renowned gastronomy and a lively cultural scene. These assets are attracting ever more tourists to Lyon at the end of the week, with a 5.3 point increase in the occupancy rate of the city’s hotels over the past five years.

Meanwhile, Lyon has been increasing its accessibility, in particular with its international airport that covers more than 148 destinations throughout the world. The summer of 2016 even had a record number of line openings, with 30 new regular flights and 21 new destinations.

Lastly, the appeal and charm of Lyon have not gone unnoticed by the national and international press. Over the past five years, the destination has welcomed more than 1000 journalists, while the number of articles extolling Lyon’s virtues has doubled.