I remember my first visit to Halifax. I was in the middle of a block and wanted to cross the street. I was lazy, so rather than strolling to the nearest crosswalk I decided to jaywalk. The car closest to me stopped smoothly and gave me lots of space to dash across the road.
I was baffled. You see, I live in Toronto. When you jaywalk in Toronto, you take your life into your hands. Cars honk at you. People roll down windows and make rude gestures. Fist fights erupt, police are called, and criminal charges ensue.
In Halifax, they slow down, smile, and wave you across the street if you jaywalk. Then they roll down their windows and invite you to the nearest Tim Hortons, which is never more than a block away in any city in Nova Scotia. And then they pay for your coffee and drive you to your aunt’s place in New Brunswick.
Not only is Halifax friendly to people who break traffic laws, but it’s a great city to explore, with a gorgeous harbour, great hotels (and new ones like The Muir), fun neighborhoods like the North End and Dartmouth, and wonderful food. Which is why I was so happy to see an email this morning from booking.com, which names Halifax the most welcoming place in Canada. Not only that, but Nova Scotia made the top ten in the world for most welcoming regions.
Drawing upon more than 232 million verified reviews from real travellers, today leading digital travel platform Booking.com announced the recipients of its 10th annual Traveller Review Awards, including the 2022 Most Welcoming Places in Canada. A total of 1,261,273 accommodation providers, car rental locations and pre-booked taxi providers in 220 countries and territories around the world are being recognized with a Traveller Review Award 2022, including 6,810 in Canada. In terms of places to stay, Italy leads the pack with the most accommodations being recognized with a 2022 award (162,272), followed by Spain (93,130), France (89,186), Croatia (58,630), Germany (69,702), Russia (59,661), the United Kingdom (53,623), Brazil (46,928), the United States (43,417) and Australia (18,663) to round out the top ten. Canada is 22nd on the list with 6,810 accommodations being recognized with a 2022 award.
2022’s Most Welcoming Places in Canada*
Canada’s most welcoming places span from the most easterly point in North America to a 1,200-metre mountain with a wildlife refuge and array of outdoor adventure. The Canadian cities and towns showing exceptionally welcoming visits to Canadian travellers include:
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Halifax, Nova Scotia
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St. John’s, Newfoundland
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Jasper, Alberta
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North Vancouver, British Columbia
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Hamilton, Ontario
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Quebec City, Quebec
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London, Ontario
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Niagara on the Lake, Ontario
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Calgary, Alberta
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Golden, British Columbia
2022’s Most Welcoming Regions on Earth*
Bruny Island, Tasmania. Tamara Thurman/Unsplash Photo
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Gorenjska, Slovenia (a VERY welcoming and beautiful country, in my opinion)
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Taitung County, Taiwan
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Tasmania, Australia
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Burgenland, Austria
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Seychelles
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Canterbury, New Zealand
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Santa Cruz, Argentina
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Nova Scotia, Canada
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Limón, Costa Rica
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La Rioja, Spain
2022’s Most Welcoming Places on Earth**
Lake Bled, Slovenia. JIM BYERS PHOTO
As the backdrop for blockbuster films and with its iconic carved cave structures honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the southern Italian marvel of Matera tops this year’s list of the 2022 Most Welcoming Cities in the World.
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Matera, Italy
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Bled, Slovenia (so beautiful)
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Taitung City, Taiwan
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Nafplio, Greece
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Toledo, Spain
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Monte Verde, Brazil
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Bruges, Belgium
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Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia
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Ponta Delgada (Azores), Portugal
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Hoi An, Vietnam
To find out more about these destinations, click here.
Travellers continue to favor apartments and unique stays
For the fifth year in a row, apartments take the top spot in the Traveller Review Awards 2022 as the most-awarded property type globally, with 561,843 partners being recognized for their efforts. Hotels are Canada’s most-awarded property type, earning 1,409 awards, with apartments a close second at 1,290 awards, followed by bed & breakfasts (1,199 awards), holiday homes (557), and motels (442) rounding out the top five accommodation types.
When it comes to homes, apartments and other unique places to stay, Italy leads with the most properties being recognized with an award (144,658), with Spain (83,654), France (79,278), Croatia (57,629) and Germany (56,977) rounding out the top five. In Canada, 5,401 homes, apartments and other unique places to stay are being recognized with a 2022 award.
Canadians value a warm and welcoming staff
When diving into the individual aspects of their stays that Canadian guests valued most, staff (9.0), location (9.0), and cleanliness (8.9) received the highest average marks. This is well above other aspects evaluated, such as value for money (8.5) or services (8.5), demonstrating the importance of those welcoming, friendly interactions during the stay, as well as health and hygiene in light of the evolving status of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Transport providers in the spotlight
For the third year in a row, rental car and airport taxi providers are also being recognized for their excellent service and smooth travel experiences, including 1,628 rental car pick-up locations across 160 countries worldwide. Spain leads with 220 rental car pick-up locations receiving a 2022 award, followed by Italy (177), France (141), the United States (108) and Australia (98). This year, 7,091 airport taxi drivers across 51 taxi providers, spanning 1,400 cities globally are also being honored with an award.
Arjan Dijk, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Booking.com, commented “As the travel industry has remained vigilant and flexible in light of the continued uncertainty and travel restrictions we’ve seen over the course of the past year, the passion and dedication of our partners to create safe and welcoming travel experiences for everyone all over the world has continued to shine through. Looking towards the future with renewed optimism and hope, with these awards we recognize the incredible hospitality our partners deliver to travellers each and every day and thank them for their amazing devotion as we continue to rebuild together.”
