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Gothenburg in Sweden is the most sociable city in the world – according to a major new study into global sociability from global hostel booking site Hostelworld.
The study, the first ever comparative study of the social life of world cities, analysed the social behaviour and attitudes of 12,188 residents from 39 major cities in 28 countries, looking at ten categories of sociability – which cover how residents socialise, as well as their general openness to others – of more than 12,000 big-city-dwellers worldwide.
The findings come as social travel is on the rise with more young travellers prioritising destinations based on the social experience rather than the cultural experience. Gothenburg, Sweden’s Little London topped the list, followed by Stockholm, Chicago and Boston.
Top 10 Most Sociable Cities
- Gothenburg (Sweden)
- Stockholm (Sweden)
- Chicago (USA)
- Boston (USA)
- New York (USA)
- Copenhagen (Denmark) 7. Madrid (Spain)
- Rome (Italy)
- Hamburg (Germany) 10. Dublin (Ireland)
Marek Mossakowski, global head of Brand at Hostelworld, said: “Social travel experiences are a driving force behind people’s reason to travel. Young travellers are choosing to stay in hostels because of the opportunity to meet other travellers, and for the social environment and spontaneous adventures that come along with it. The beauty of staying in a hostel rather than other accommodation is that it has a community of travellers from around the world to socialise with – so no matter where you are, you can meet the world. Our new study offers a window into the social lives of the people who live in the world’s big cities, showing many fascinating variations between styles and cultures of socialising around the world.”
In order to identify the top destinations for social experiences, respondents were questioned about their attitudes towards a variety of things including socialising with friends, eating out and partying. Differing cities triumphed across the categories; however, Gothenburg topped three of the ten criteria and placed in the top three in others.
