Lonely Planet urges Tas visit in 2015
Tasmania's fine food, great outdoors and packed events calendar have helped put the state near the top of Lonely Planet's must-visit list.
Comparing areas from around the globe, the renowned travel guide's Best in Travel 2015 - released on Tuesday - gives Tassie fourth place in its top-10 regions category.
"Modern Tasmania has adopted a fresh, hip and inclusive attitude sparked by the brilliant revival of its now super-cool waterfront capital, Hobart, and the development of an eclectic year-long events calendar," Lonely Planet's Chris Zeiher writes.
An extension of the Three Capes Track in the state's southeast - due for completion in the new year and offering walkers a "stunning" view of sea cliffs in the Tasman National Park - gets a big thumbs up.
There's also Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art and a food scene that is a "gourmet's paradise", Zeiher writes.
Tasmania has emerged from its humble convict origins to become a "wild and dramatic, cultured and quirky, isolated yet accessible" travel destination.
Tasmania is no stranger to the Lonely Planet guide. Hobart was named a top-10 city in 2013 and the east coast Bay of Fires was a top-10 region in 2009.
It is Australia's only listing in the latest publication, and the Tasmanian government says the island state is punching above its weight and well on track to its goal of attracting 1.5 million visitors a year by 2020.
Hundreds of regions were nominated for the Lonely Planet listing before a panel of in-house travel experts scored each on a criteria of topicality, excitement, value and "that special X-factor".
The title also lists its top-10 countries to visit in 2015: Singapore, Namibia, Lithuania, Nicaragua, Ireland, Republic of Congo, Serbia, The Philippines, St Lucia, and Morocco.
The top-10 cities for 2015 are: Washington, DC; El Chalten, Argentina; Milan, Italy; Zermatt, Switzerland; Valletta, Malta; Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Salisbury, UK; Vienna, Austria; Chennai, India; and Toronto, Canada.
TOP-10 REGIONS IN 2015 ACCORDING TO LONELY PLANET
1 Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey
2 Rocky Mountain National Park, USA
3 The Toledo District, Belize
4 Tasmania, Australia
5 Northern Norway
6 Khumbu, Nepal
7 Copper Canyon, Mexico
8 Flores, Indonesia
9 Atacama Desert, Chile
10 Macau, China.
