And the world's best holiday destination is...

Tripadvisor has named The South African city of Cape Town as the best desintination in the world, beating Australia's Sydney into the second spot, with Machu Picchu coming in third, Paris in fourth and Rio de Janeiro in fifth, while London picked up eighth position.

Table Mountain and Robben Island were named as Cape Town highlights in the awards, based on millions of user reviews.

The city has seen a massive boost in tourism numbers over the last couple of months, with The V&A Waterfront seeing more than three million visitors during December, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway attracting more than 100,000 visitors throughout the past month, and the City Sightseeing Bus running at full capacity during December.

Tripadvisor has also started releasing its 2012 Travellers Choice Awards, with its world's best hotels list being released.

The Phoenix Resort in Belize was named the best hotel in the world, while Ireland was honoured with two hotels in the top ten world's best. England did get a nod with the Charterhouse Hotel in Torquay coming in at number 15.

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