NEWTON, Mass., Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor(®), the world's largest travel site, today announced the results of its Cities Survey, a look into how travelers and locals view 40 key tourist cities around the world. The results were compiled based on more than 75,000 responses to a survey sent to those who have recently written TripAdvisor reviews on the featured cities.

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Tokyo was the most highly decorated world city ranked number one for best taxi services, friendliest taxi drivers, best public transportation, cleanest streets, and safety.

While New York City was ranked top for shopping, travelers felt the city streets could use a sweep as the city ranked 28 out of 40 for cleanliness. Global respondents also believed visiting the Big Apple may break the bank as it is ranked 32 out of 40 for value.

Here are some of the top cities per category:

Overall Top Performers:

             Category          First place  Second place Third place
             --------          -----------  ------------ -----------
        Friendliest locals        Cancun       Tokyo        Lisbon
        ------------------        ------       -----        ------
     Friendliest taxi drivers     Tokyo        Cancun     Singapore
     ------------------------     -----        ------     ---------
        Best taxi services        Tokyo      Singapore      Dubai
        ------------------        -----      ---------      -----
         Cleanest streets         Tokyo      Singapore      Zurich
         ----------------         -----      ---------      ------
      Ease of getting around      Zurich       Vienna     Singapore
      ----------------------      ------       ------     ---------
      Best public transport       Tokyo        Zurich       Munich
      ---------------------       -----        ------       ------
       Best value for money       Lisbon      Budapest     Bangkok
       --------------------       ------      --------     -------
        Best for shopping     New York City   Bangkok       Dubai
        -----------------     -------------   -------       -----
           Safest city            Tokyo      Singapore    Dubrovnik
           -----------            -----      ---------    ---------

Overall Low Rankers:

             Category         Last place   Second last    Third last
             --------         ----------   -----------    ----------
        Friendliest locals      Moscow        London      Hong Kong
        ------------------      ------        ------      ---------
     Friendliest taxi drivers   Moscow       Beijing       Brussels
     ------------------------   ------       -------       --------
        Best taxi services      Moscow       Beijing     Kuala Lumpur
        ------------------      ------       -------     ------------
         Cleanest streets       Mumbai      Marrakech     Punta Cana
         ----------------       ------      ---------     ----------
      Ease of getting around    Mumbai      Punta Cana      Moscow
      ----------------------    ------      ----------      ------
      Best public transport      Hanoi   Sharm el Sheikh  Marrakech
      ---------------------      -----   ---------------  ---------
       Best value for money      Oslo         Moscow        Zurich
       --------------------      ----         ------        ------
        Best for shopping       Moscow         Oslo       Punta Cana
        -----------------       ------         ----       ----------

"New York City's global reputation as a shopping mecca was reinforced by the opinions of the TripAdvisor community worldwide," said Brooke Ferencsik, director of communications at TripAdvisor. "While survey respondents felt the Big Apple comes up short on value, savvy travelers can find myriad budget-friendly options in the more than 430 hotels, 1,800 attractions and 7,700 restaurants in New York City listed on TripAdvisor."

Note to Editors: The survey was sent to those that have written a review on either a hotel, restaurant or attraction in the featured cities during 2012, with the majority of surveys sent to travelers and the remainder to locals. To be included in the results a city had a minimum of 300 completed responses, with the ranking based on average scores for each question. All analysis was conducted by Brainbox Research. The selection of featured cities is based on the key cities from countries which receive the largest number of international visitor arrivals (data compiled by the UNWTO 2010).

About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor(®) is the world's largest travel site,* enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 60 million unique monthly visitors*, and over 75 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 19 other travel media brands, and together the sites attract more than 74 million unique monthly visitors.** TripAdvisor, Inc.'s travel media brands include www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.sniqueaway.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com, www.whereivebeen.com, and www.kuxun.cn.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, July 2012

**Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Worldwide, July 2012

©2012 TripAdvisor, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE TripAdvisor

SOURCE: TripAdvisor