What reception do you tend to get when you touch down in a new city? Does service typically come with a smile, or do you tick off bucket list restaurants with a sour taste in your mouth?
Each year, Condé Nast Traveller crunches the numbers in its Readers’ Choice Awards to announce a guide to the friendliest cities in Europe, based on the experiences of thousands of jetsetters.
Now, the tech whizzes at business insurance expert MoneySuperMarket have analysed more than 100,000 customer reviews from 107 different cities to find out where in the world travellers are likely to get the best experience.
The team searched Google Maps for restaurants, bars, things to do, and tourist attractions across a select number of cities, chose between 30 and 50 locations from the top results, then analysed 1,000 reviews per city, scouring them to identify feedback suggesting staff friendliness.
The key finding? Europe comes out on top. Specifically, Edinburgh, with the Scottish capital reportedly being a hub of exceptional customer service, 59 per cent of analysed reviews mention friendly staff and service.
In fact, the UK does exceptionally well in the results, with a whopping four cities in the top 10 – Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh.
The Vietnamese metropolis of Hanoi ranks second, with 58.6 per cent of the analysed reviews recommending great customer service, while Paris ranks fourth. Travellers have clearly fallen for the Irish charm while out and about in the capital, too, with 57.3 per cent of top reviews in Dublin mentioning great experiences while navigating the city.
The friendliest cities in the world
10. Bristol, United Kingdom: 53.7 per cent
9. Birmingham, United Kingdom: 54.2 per cent
8. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 55.3 per cent
7. Vienna, Austria: 55.6 per cent
6. Montreal, Canada: 56.8 per cent
5. Dublin, Ireland: 57.3 per cent
4. Paris, France: 57.5 per cent
3. Liverpool, United Kingdom: 58.3 per cent
2. Hanoi, Vietnam: 58.6 per cent
1. Edinburgh, United Kingdom: 59.0 per cent
%20-%20Heiko%20Prigge.jpg?w=145&resize=145,100&ssl=1 "Buzzy, beautiful, and under £200 – these are the loveliest affordable hotels in Europe right now according to our editors")
