Botswana Tops Lonely Planet’s 2016 Places to Visit

Botswana has come out as the leader in Lonely Planet’s list of countries in the world most worth travelling to in 2016.

Lonely Planet highlights the top city, region and country in the world for 2016 in this video

What might have also made the country a winner, besides the fact that next year is its 50th birthday after independence from Britain, is that 17 per cent of its land is dedicated to national parks and it has a great conservation record. In 2014 the Okavango Delta became Unesco’s 1,000th World Heritage Site.

Botswana’s President Seretse Khama Ian Khama is widely known as a supporter of wildlife and conservation. His country also has some of the top names in lodges luring tourists, such as Great Plains (run by conservationists Dereck and Beverly Joubert), Wilderness Safaris, Jack’s Camp as well as andBeyond.

Botswana was the only country in Africa in the top 10, and was followed by Japan and the USA. No African cities made it into the top 10 cities, although the teensy island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic – until now only reachable by boat from Cape Town – came in at No. 10 in regions to visit. (An airport is meant to be under construction after decades of discussion, which might increase the number of visitors to the remote island.)