Kerala is the most welcoming place in India, according to a poll conducted by a leading digital travel platform. Booking.com revealed the top 10 most welcoming places in India according to its 2018 Guest Review Awards survey data and five of the popular destinations from ‘God’s Own Country’ (Varkala, Cochin, Thekkady, Alleppey and Munnar) were featured among the list of top ten places in India.

For the seventh annual edition of the awards, 759,845 properties across 219 countries and territories were given an award, with the top countries being Italy (106,513), Spain (46,646) and France (45,286). India (6,125) ranked ahead of Switzerland (6,002), Taiwan (5,212), Belgium (5,108) and China (4,996) in terms of the number of properties being honoured with awards with a total of 6,125 accommodation providers from the country being recognized.

India ranks as the 29th most welcoming country on the planet ahead of Switzerland (30th), China (40th) and Malaysia (45th). Within India, the most welcoming destinations are Varkala (Kerala), Cochin (Kerala) & Jaisalmer (Rajasthan).

“No matter the type, size or location of the property, what we see from our customers is that they value a human connection when they travel, whether it’s some extra attention to detail or a truly individualized approach to service,” said Ritu Mehrotra, Country Manager India, Sri Lanka and Maldives at Booking.com.