Booking.com Reveals Canada’s Most Welcoming Cities
Booking.com has released the seventh edition of its annual Guest Review Awards, which includes a list of Canada’s most welcoming places.
For the 2018 edition of the awards, 759,845 properties across 219 countries and territories are being given an award, with more than 2,200 Canadian properties claiming awards.
Based on the share of properties receiving an award in 2018, for the first time ever Booking.com reveals the most welcoming places, according to customer reviews. The reported most welcoming destinations in Canada are Calgary, Kelowna, Whistler, Victoria, Vancouver (pictured), Halifax, Niagara on the Lake, Ottawa, Quebec City and Mont-Tremblant.
When it comes to the most welcoming property types in Canada, four out of the five are alternative accommodation options: B&Bs (1,568), Apartments (1,048), Hotels (1,987), Motels (600) and Inns (486).
For the second year in a row, apartments are the top-awarded accommodation type around the globe, making up more than a third (36%) of the award-winning properties in 2018. In fact, nearly three quarters (73%) of all the winning properties are homes, apartments and other unique places to stay, including everything from riads and ryokans to homestays and guest houses. This should be familiar to Canadians as recent research found that over one quarter (26%) of travellers say that they prefer unique and quirky accommodation over more traditional places.
The ongoing appreciation and interest from Canadian travellers to experience a wide variety of unique stay experiences is also reflected in recent research by Booking.com with 21,000 travellers across 29 countries which highlights that more than a quarter of travellers (28%) would prefer to stay in a vacation rental (holiday home or apartment) over a hotel in 2019. Twelve per cent said that they would consider listing their own home on a travel accommodation site over the coming year. With 29% of Canadian travellers also wanting to stay in an accommodation type they’ve never experienced before in 2019, the consumer demand in this segment remains strong.
“No matter the type, size or location of the property, what we see from our customers is that they value a human connection when they travel, whether it’s some extra attention to detail or a truly individualized approach to service,” said Nuno Guerreiro, regional manager, Canada at Booking.com. “With these awards, we celebrate and thank all of the amazing accommodation providers who create special travel experiences for our customers on a daily basis.”
