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VICTORIA — For the second year in a row, Victoria has been put at the top of Condé Nast Traveller’s lists of the best small cities in the world.

The travel and lifestyle magazine once again placed Victoria atop its annual Readers’ Choice Awards announced Oct. 1.

Paul Nursey, chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria, the destination marketing organization tasked with selling Victoria to the world, said the top spot is a very big deal.

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“It means that Victoria, as a meetings and leisure destination, is truly up there with some of the most interesting and unique places in the world,” he said, noting the city is in good company with the likes of Porto, Bruges and San Sebastian. “And I think for us what it really means is our brand is now clearly distinct from Vancouver, Seattle and other places in the Pacific Northwest.”

Nursey said Victoria recently hosted some of the world’s most influential incentive meeting planners who reminded him the city remains an undiscovered gem.

Condé Nast readers seem to be in on the secret.

Condé Nast, which publishes numerous magazines, including Vogue, GQ and The New Yorker, said its Traveller magazine reaches more than 20 million print and web readers every month and more than 40 million people on its social media channels.

This year more than 575,000 readers participated in the Readers’ Choice Awards by submitting ratings about their travel experiences on a five-point scale. Nursey said the results suggest Victoria is able to attract a more affluent traveller, which he said is reflected in the hotel rates the city has seen of late.

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According to Chemistry Consulting’s most recent figures, the average daily room rate through the first seven months of this year was $255.21, up from $240.48 last year, while revenue per available room was $188.87, up from $167.77 at the same time last year.

The most recent numbers available also note the Victoria International Airport has seen a nine per cent increase in total passengers through its gates compared with last year, vehicle counts on B.C. Ferries are up 2.64 per cent and the Victoria Conference Centre has seen a 26 per cent increase in the number of delegate days.

Nursey said Victoria has gone from middle of the pack in terms of average daily room rate to third behind Vancouver and Toronto.

He also noted overall the tourism year has been “really solid” with a number of tourism operators reporting they’re before pre-COVID-19 numbers.

Nursey said the Condé Nast recognition will help them build on this year’s success, and it will be used in marketing pitches and public relations efforts.

It will also be part of Destination Greater Victoria’s fall launch of a 10-year master plan that will focus on the need for reinvestment in the region’s infrastructure, like needed repairs to the causeway, ways to make hotel development easier and the need for new amenities like a museum and expanding the conference centre.

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“We’re a globally recognized brand now, and that’s proven to be true, but we also see downside risk if we don’t get moving on some of these projects because our competition is all moving,” he said, noting Seattle’s work to improve its waterfront.

“We see that we’ve reached the pinnacle, but if we want to stay there, we need to continually up our game. Everyone else around the world is continuing to see the value of attracting visitors, foreign direct investment conferences.”

He acknowledged making the case for investment in infrastructure will be difficult considering the entire country is crying out for upgraded and improved infrastructure from crumbling seawalls, to highways and bridges.

He said they will make their case by appealing to the bottom line.

“We do the analysis of the taxation revenue that this helps to drive. This is new direct money from non-citizens that helps to fund our general revenues,” he said. “We have a success story we need to keep investing in.”

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