Accolades such as being ranked on Lonely Planet's top ten list of cities to visit always go down well in Canberra.
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As the city much of the rest of the country seems to love to hate, ACT residents respond warmly to expressions of praise and affection.
Of course such recognition is usually greeted with a fairly predictable negative response from interstate rivals, many of whom have little, or any real experience of our city.
When Canberra was named the best city in the world by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2014 one Melbourne newspaper ran the headline" "Canberra really the world's best city? More like capital punishment".
Melbourne's Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, described the finding as "the best kept secret in the world" and said "if Canberra is so livable, how come the airport departure lounge is always full?"
Others criticised the cost of accommodation, our dynamic and engaging climatic fluctuations and what was disparagingly referred to as Canberra's "boredom factor".
Similar comments were thrown up when numbeo.com listed the the bush capital as having the best quality of living worldwide on five separate occasions between 2013 and 2016.
Yes, there is a lot to like - indeed, to love - about living in Canberra. The compact size, relatively easy commutes, access to some of the best cultural attractions in the country, fantastic educational institutions, high employment rate and high average incomes can't be beat.
When combined with a beautiful setting, Australia's best man made body of water and the fact the great outdoors is literally on everybody's doorstep it's sometimes hard to see why anybody would want to live anywhere else.
To put the Lonely Planet finding into perspective, the most visited city in the world, Bangkok, isn't even on their top 10 list. Nor are London, Paris, Singapore or New York; the other members of the top five by tourist numbers.
Lonely Planet's criteria favours smaller, regional, destinations where tourists will rarely, if ever, outnumber the locals.
Number one spot went to Seville. Second, fourth and fifth spots went to Detroit, Hamburg and Kaohsiung in Taiwan.
What we should take away from the Lonely Planet recognition is that innovations such as the introduction of international flights, the forthcoming test match at Manuka Oval and the AWM's Armistice Day commemoration to be held in 2018 have all helped put us on the map.
International recognition from the likes of Lonely Planet only help that cause, and can provide useful leverage when trying to sell our city to international markets. Tourism is an important sector that employs thousands of Canberrans, and anything that helps boost that industry benefits all the city's residents and further feeds the vibrancy that has taken root in recent years.
Let's learn from this, build on what has already been achieved and make our best effort to avoid sounding smug when we have to deal with those not fortunate to live within our border.
