After over a decade on top as North America’s favorite travel destination, San Francisco fell from its perch this year according to the annual survey of Condé Nast Traveler readers.

Charleston, South Carolina is this year’s choice of the 29,000 or so readers of the publication, with the tiebreaker seeming to be the friendliness of the two cities.

More than 90 percent of readers rated Charleston as a friendly place, while only two-thirds said the same about San Francisco.

Joe D’Alessandro, head of the San Francisco Travel Association, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was not surprised by the move down, citing a rise in homelessness in the city as part of the problem.

“When it comes to natural beauty and the culinary scene, we’re going to beat Charleston every time,” D’Alessandro told the paper. “But when guests come out of hotels and are harassed, many times people interpret that as an unfriendly environment.”

Readers evaluated the cities based on six categories: atmosphere/ambience, culture/sites, friendliness, lodging, restaurants and shopping.

• Tag: Charleston, Condé Nast Traveler, Destination Cities, homelessness, Poll, San Francisco, Tourism