Catalina Island in Southern California is ranked as the 3rd highest U.S. island destination in the newly released National Geographic Traveler's Island Destination Scorecard survey.

National Geographic Traveler magazine polled 522 tourism consultants, journalists, geographers, conservationists, academics and other researchers to rate 111 island destinations across the globe - from North and South America, to the Caribbean, South Pacific, Asia, Europe and Africa. Catalina Island, 22 miles from the Southern California coast, scored a 74, the third highest rating of island destinations in the U.S. Only two other islands in the U.S. scored higher - Mackinac Island, Michigan received a score of 80 and Molokai, Hawaii scored a 79.  The Faroe Islands in Denmark took the top spot on the global list with an 87.

The well-traveled experts evaluating Catalina had this to say about the Island: "People respect the Catalina Conservancy's work and understand its role in controlling over 75 percent of the island. This island is developed to its maximum, but concentrated in a small strip along the short waterfront. The remainder of the island is preserved and...seems well-balanced. Recent wildfires may have major impact on future. The island is a lovely miniature of what the mainland must have looked like years ago."

Islands selected in the Traveler's survey were ranked on the "integrity of place" and qualities that make an island destination unique such as aesthetic appeal, environmental quality, cultural and heritage impacts and tourism management.  

The Traveler's Island Destination Scorecard survey is published in the current November/ December 2007 issue. The complete list of island destinations and additional information about the Island Destination survey is available at www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler.