Another year, another State of Origin.

As New South Wales and Queensland go head to head, we’ve pitted the two states up against each other in a holiday battle.

But which state will make it out on top and take the cup this year?

What a way to start the series off with the UNESCO World Heritage Listed sites, representing only the best examples of the world’s cultural and natural heritage. Australia is lucky enough to have 19 properties on the world heritage list, but which state will score with the majority of sites?

Queensland:

• Great Barrier Reef
• Gondwana Rainforests (Focal Peak Group, Main Range Group, Shield Volcano Group)
• Fraser Island
• Riversleigh Fossil Mammal site
• Wet Tropics of Queensland

New South Wales

• Sydney Opera House
• Lord Howe Island
• Greater Blue Mountains
• Gondwana Rainforests (Barrington Tops Area, Focal Peak Group, Hastings-Macleay Group, Iluka Nature Reserve, Main Range Group, New England Group, Shield Volcano Group, Washpool and Gibraltar Range)
• Convict Sites (Cockatoo Island, Hyde Park Barracks, Old Government House, Old Great North Road)
• Willandra Lakes Region

References: Queensland, 2017 | Traveller, Tim Richards, 2014

The sand is heating up between the blues and the maroons when it comes to the top Australian beaches. We took the audience’s vote on this one, with the top 10 beaches as voted on Experience Oz in 2016.

With Queensland’s stretch of coast line, it’s going to be hard for New South Wales to compete…

• Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island, QLD
• Cable Beach, Broome, WA
• Burleigh Heads Beach, Burleigh Heads, QLD
• Noosa Main Beach, Noosa, QLD
• 75 Mile Beach, Fraser Island, QLD
• Wineglass Bay, TAS
• Mandalay Beach, Walpole, WA
• Main Beach, Byron Bay, NSW
• Lizard Island, QLD
• Bondi Beach, Sydney, NSW

Reference: Experience Oz

The crowd’s on edge now with equal scores between the maroons and the blues. Only the state that is home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World will divide the winners from the losers.

Let’s see who’ll be raising the trophy after this one…

Queensland:

• Great Barrier Reef – 7 Natural Wonders of the World

New South Wales

• Sydney Opera House – All new 7 Wonders of the World

Reference: The Telegraph, 2007

We’re now heading into golden point time with the maroons and the blues score sitting on par. Let’s settle this! The final score will come down to which state is most travelled to. Crowd’s choice on this one….

Most people travelled to in 2016

• Sydney: 9.2 million domestic overnight visitors in 2016
• Brisbane: 6 million domestic overnight visitors in 2016
• Sydney: over 3.6 million international overnight visitors in 2016
• Brisbane: over 1.1 million international overnight visitors in 2016

State vs State

• NSW 29.2 million visitors in 2016
• Queensland 20.7 million visitors in 2016

Reference: Destination NSW - Travel to Sydney Year 2016 | Tourism and Events QLD - Brisbane Regional Snapshot December 2016

The crowd roars as New South Wales take the lead and win, being the most visited state in 2016 compared to Queensland, the blues have come out on top!

The states were sitting equal for some time, and it was a close call, with outstanding sportsmanship on both sides.

But even if New South Wales did come out on top, Queensland still claims the majority of the best voted beaches.

So who’s the real winner here?