More than 64 cities, 5 weeks, and 10,000 votes later we finally have a winner, after an all-Romanian The Best City to Visit Travel Tournament Championship: Sibiu. Originally nominated by Adrian (who now has also won $300), Sibiu, the 60th seed in the tournament, came close to being eliminated in the early rounds by Shanghai and Barcelona. However this is a tournament of momentum, and Sibiu certainly had that from the Sweet 16 on as it rolled over Florence, Paris, Dublin, Buenos Aires, and eventually neighbor Bucharest. The Romanian capital fought hard against a determined Granada to reach the final, but being the best city in 2013 wasn’t to be.
At the end of each annual contest, it’s easy to look back and “see” how a city (e.g. Sibiu) won it all. Yet there’s never been a repeat winner in The Best City to Visit Travel Tournament and when the nominations come in every February, any city can win. Many of you emailed me asking what I thought about an all-Romanian final – I enjoy watching the contest unfold in unexpected ways and highlight cities many of us may not have known about before. The 2013 Best City Tournament is also sending me to a new city this year (a city I’ve visited before has never won) so I’ll see you possibly in June for the Theater Festival, Sibiu.
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Thank You Everyone For The City Support
I want to thank all of you who nominated a city, voted, secretly-stalked-all-the-polls, shared the contest, and supported your favorite cities throughout March. You are what makes the contest so exciting and this blog worth writing. Congratulations again to both Romanian finalists, Bucharest and champion Sibiu on one hell of a race to the end. Sibiu now takes over the title of “Best City to Visit” from Sarajevo, until next year around this time…