International tourism: France, on the podium of most welcoming countries

The 11th edition of the Booking.com Traveller Review Awards is based, as in previous years, on the awards given by Booking to more than 1.3 million “accommodation partners” worldwide. These awards are in fact the result of verified reviews published on the platform by travellers themselves, i.e. more than 240 million reviews screened in 220 countries and territories.

France on the top podium

Once the results have been analysed, France came out on the top podium with 103,364 awards for its accommodation, closely after Italy (170,638 places cited) and Spain (108,217 establishments).

Europe is thus widely acclaimed as a place of welcome and tourist destination, while at global level, the best-rated cities are, in order: Polignano a Mare (Italy), Hualien (Taiwan), San Sebastian (Spain), Dresden (Germany) and Klaipeda (Lithuania).

But France can also boast three regions that have been attracting people over the years “for their charm, their unique sites and their hospitality”. For the fourth consecutive year, the Alsace, Hauts-de-France and Burgundy-Franche-Comté regions are once again the three regions to top the ranking. Even more precisely, this year it is three Alsatian towns, located in the east of France in the region of Haut-Rhin (68), that stand out for their hospitality: Kaysersberg, Eguisheim and Riquewihr.

In addition, the Top 10 of the most welcoming French cities includes cities located all over France, such as: Gaillac (Tarn, 81), Saint-Emilion (Gironde, 33), Ribeauvillé (Haut-Rhin, 68), Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (Alpes-de Haute-Provence, 04), Saint-Aignan (Loir-et-Cher, 41), Camiers (Pas-de-Calais, 62) and Noyers-sur-Cher (Loir-et-Cher, 41).

Preferred types of individual accommodation

As Booking.com wrote in commenting on these results, “our partners have deployed even more efforts to offer the best possible welcome”. Nevertheless, it seems that, in terms of accommodation, collective options have been somewhat abandoned and that travellers turn away from hotels. A trend that is gaining momentum.

In France, flats indeed occupy the first place as the preferred accommodation option (for the sixth consecutive year), with a total of 46,582 partners recognised for their hospitality in the 2023 edition of the Traveller Review Awards. According to Booking.com, for the first time in the history of the awards, holiday homes came second. They even beat Bed & Breakfasts, hotels and guest houses.

It is also worth noting, as Booking.com points out, that almost 10% of the award-winning accommodations worldwide (122,095) have a “Sustainable Travel” certification. This new label is a proof to “the initiatives put in place by Booking.com’s partners to protect the environment”. This finding echoes a previous study conducted by Booking.com, according to which 72% of travellers “confirm the importance for them to travel sustainably”. 

France for lovebirds

In France, as in many other parts of the world, Valentine’s Day, the day of lovers, is celebrated on 14 February. This is why the France.fr website has a series of articles entitled “L’amour en France, c’est (encore) mieux l’hiver” (Love in France is (even) better in winter), which promotes a selection of “romantic and unusual escapades” for an unforgettable stay in a France that is... very welcoming!

To “celebrate love in winter while waiting for the warmer days”, France.fr suggests to:

• skate together on the Rousses lake in the Jura region;
• ride bikes together on the ways to the châteaux in the Loire Valley;
• swim in Quiberon bay in Brittany;
• hike in snowshoes in Les Arcs in the Alps;
• breathe the perfumes in Grasse on the Côte d’Azur;
• take a bubble bath in Champagne!