TWO Sunshine Coast Hinterland towns are the among the most welcoming in the country according to a new survey of millions of tourists.
The 11th annual booking.com Traveller Review Awards has been released today with Montville, fifth, pipping Maleny, sixth, for the first time in the top ten most welcoming towns in Australia.
This awards are based on a pool of over 240 million verified customer reviews on Booking.com with 1.36 million accommodation partners receiving an award in 2023, including 19,238 of these from Australia.
Maleny has slipped in its standing after holding first place for two years running, while Montville has raced up the charts after finishing ninth last year.
Hinterland Tourism President Kerry Brown said the love shown for our region was thanks to the friendly local businesses across the popular tourist destinations.
“Most of how our businesses operate up here, we don’t have chain establishments, when you walk into an accommodation house or a restaurant, it’s usually owned and operated by the person greeting you,” Kerry said.
“People who own and operate our tourism ventures up here are very invested in what they do, they are world class professionals…I think that’s what gives us the edge to consistently make the top 10.”
As for Montville overtaking Maleny on this year’s list, Kerry says both towns are great and it is hard to say why one is more popular than the other.
“The local businesses in Montville do a lot to really look after the travellers and tourists and I think it’s just the experiences are very enjoyed,” she said.
“Our accommodation occupancy rates are really high in the Hinterland, particularly compared to surrounding regions to us, and we know this is the case because people love what we have here, why wouldn’t they?”
Booking.com’s Melissa Ellison said the results underscored Australia’s welcoming nature as borders opened and travel returned last year.
“It’s that personal attention to detail when checking in or sharing helpful recommendations to explore the destination like a local that demonstrates how our partners show up and shine for travellers in a multitude of ways each and every day,” she said.
“These awards are our way of thanking them for their dedication to making everyone feel welcome and to going out of their way to create incredible experiences for our customers.
Whether it’s a friendly greeting from a taxi driver at the airport, sharing some local driving tips at the car rental counter or a thoughtful note waiting in the room, our passionate partners help make every trip more special.”
