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Thursday, 5th June 2014
In General Japan News,
Tokyo rated top city in TripAdvisor poll
Tokyo, Japan's capital city, has been rated the most satisfying city for tourists in 2013 in a worldwide poll conducted by popular review website TripAdvisor.
The metropolis beat 37 other major world cities to the top spot, based on tens of thousands of reviews from travellers all over the planet.
Visitors were particularly pleased when it came to areas such as local friendliness and cleanliness, rating Tokyo top in these areas.
The city's extensive transport network, which includes an enormous metro, various railway services and the famed Shinkansen 'bullet' services, also received glowing reviews.
Thanks to its legendary entertainment districts, such as Shibuya and Shinjuku, Tokyo also came within the top ten rankings in eight other separate areas, including restaurants, suitability for families and shopping.
However, the tourist industry largely fell flat when it came to sightseeing and cultural sites, with attractions such as the Meiji Shrine and the Imperial Palace being overlooked by visitors.
TripAdvisor said in the poll that this should be something for the city to work on in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which will see thousands of tourists flocking to the city to enjoy the most historic games event in the international calendar.
The company advised that information about cultural places to visit must be made more accessible in time for the occasion.
However, it also acknowledged that the city had done well to get to the top spot, beating New York in second and Barcelona into
third. Other cultural centres included on the list were Istanbul, Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Dubrovnik.
Preparations are well underway to make Tokyo more tourist-friendly in time for the Olympics, with steps already being undertaken to increase the number of English signs on streets.
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