Vancouver has been ranked the top city in North America for mindful travellers.
A new survey from Kayak, a travel search engine, has determined that B.C.'s biggest city was the top city in Canada and across the continent for "sustainably-minded travellers thanks to how accessible the city is by bike, trains and/or ferries, the air quality score and the availability of eco-friendly hotels."
While Vancouver was the top city in North America for sustainably-minded travellers, Rotterdam in the Netherlands was ranked the best in the world for mindful globetrotters.
Vancouver ranked 38th in the world, despite being ranked as the top spot on the continent in the interactive City Guide for Mindful Travellers. In fact, almost every city in the ranking before it is located in Europe, except for Tokyo, Japan, which placed 28th overall.
The city's weak spot was its 'experiences category.' Vancouver scored a lowly 15 out of 100.
A second city in the Netherlands, Amsterdam, was ranked the second-best city for mindful globetrotters. Graz, Austria placed third, with Trondheim, Norway ranking fourth. Munich, Germany rounded out the top five.
Other Canadian cities that ranked high for sustainably-minded travellers included Halifax in 53rd, Montreal in 59th, Ottawa in 63rd, and Victoria in 69th.
Vancouver just beat out the highest American city; San Francisco was ranked 39th (with Boston close behind in 41).
The interactive guide is designed to help sustainably-minded travellers consider factors such as local traffic, air quality, commitment to diversity and inclusion and more in 160 cities around the world. It analyzes 28 factors, including everything from airport carbon accreditation to seasonal flight price differences to how available forms of transportation are in a city.
The survey also found that two-thirds (68%) of Canadians feel there is not enough information out there to make sustainably-minded travel decisions. Of the Canucks surveyed, nearly half of them (48%) will check out a potential destination's "sustainability credentials" before making a booking. Further, over a quarter of them (27%) "consider their CO2 footprint when making travel decisions."
The report's authors add that well over half of the Canadian respondents (63%) have adapted their behaviour to more sustainable travel over the past five years
