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Is this the ‘happiest’ travel destination in the world?

A new study ranks tourist destinations based on certain measures of happiness, like… cheap beer

Ed Cunningham
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Ed Cunningham
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It’s a question that’s troubled mankind for millennia: what is happiness? Well, a report from hotel and package holiday company Club Med reckons it has the answer. And it involves cheap beer and spas.

Club Med has released a study that claims to rank the happiest holiday destinations on the planet, and to do so it has come up with a series of factors that add up to happy travels. Looking at a number of destinations, Club Med analysed things as disparate the number of spas, local pollution levels and how much it costs to buy a pint of beer. Other factors included measures of crime and personal safety, the number of outdoor activities and day trips available in a destination, LGBTQ+ friendliness and a somewhat nebulous ‘happiness score’.

Top of Club Med’s list was Bali in Indonesia, thanks to its load of spas, wellness centres and outdoorsy activities. Add in cheap pints, a huge number of days of sunshine and the general paradise vibes, and we’ll admit it’s pretty tough to not be over the moon in Bali.

Next on the list was Las Vegas, which was given a high safety score, followed by New Orleans and Barcelona, both of which were given top marks for LGBTQ+ inclusivity.

Here is the full top ten ‘happiest’ tourist destinations in the world, according to Club Med. 

  1. Bali, Indonesia
  2. Las Vegas, USA
  3. New Orleans, USA
  4. Barcelona, Spain
  5. Amsterdam, Netherlands
  6. Budapest, Hungary
  7. Vancouver, Canada
  8. San Francisco, USA
  9. Dubai, UAE
  10. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Want to find out more? You can read Club Med’s full report for yourself here.

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