The Norwegian Fjords are ranked as the best destination in the world by a National Geographic Traveler expert panel saying the fjord regions reflect the “well-preserved Norwegian rural life” and calling the fjords “as good as can be done.”
As in 2004, the Norwegian Fjords top the charts in the National Geographic Traveler “Destinations Rated” in 2009. The ranking is an assessment of authenticity and stewardship, and the panel emphasizes and evaluates the qualitites that makes a destination unique while measuring its “integrity of place.”
National Geographic Traveler has convened an independent panel of 437 well-traveled experts in a variety of fields – historic preservation, site management, geography, sustainable tourism, ecology, indigenous cultures, travel writing, photograpy, and archaeology to assess 133 iconic places in the world.
The panel based its decisions on six criteria: environmental and ecological quality, social and cultural integrity, condition of historic buildings and archaeological sites, aesthetic appeal, quality of tourism management, and outlook for the future. The results appear in the November/December 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.
