These are the ‘friendliest’ cities in SA, according to tourists

Did your city make the cut?

Airbnb’s annual hospitality index has been released, listing the regions in which hosts provide the most outstanding hospitality according to the five-star reviews received from guests after their stay.

In South Africa, a whopping nine out of the top ten regions were in the Western Cape.

And it was areas in the winelands that came out tops. Stellenbosch leads the way with 79% of reviewed trips getting a five-star rating, with the neighbouring town of Paarl, hot on its heels.

The only non-Western Cape City to crack the top ten, was the City of Gold, Johannesburg.

For the index Airbnb looks at the percentage of trips (not reviews, which would be biased by review rates) where guests give 5-star scores for all of the Airbnb reviews criteria: cleanliness, check-in, communication, value and accuracy. You’ll find that many areas have the same percentage, that’s because the review numbers are rounded out.

Sifting through reviews of listings seems to suggest that guests view communication from hosts as a top priority. In other words, guests appreciate when their hosts notify them of things such as whether or not there’s a pet on the property of if they’ll be using a shared bathroom.

While other values such as cleanliness are obviously prized, it is of little value if guests don’t know the details necessary for a comfortable stay.

See the full index below:

1. Stellenbosch 

2. Paarl 

3. George 

4. Cape Town 

5. Johannesburg 

6. Plettenberg Bay 

7. Swellendam 

8.Knysna 

9. Hermanus

10. Grabouw 

11. Jeffrey’s Bay 

12. Port Elizabeth 

13. Pretoria

14. Mossel Bay

15. Berea

16. East London

17. Ballitoville

18. Durban

19. Oudtshoorn 

20. Saldanha

21. Bredasdorp

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