TripAdvisor Reveals Most Visited Spots around Asia by Hong Kong and Taiwanese Travellers & Check-in Favourites of these Two Cities By Overseas Travellers vs Locals

World’s Largest Travel Site Launches its First-Ever Mobile “Check-Index” to Uncover Where Consumers are Actually Spending Their Time at Home and Abroad

TripAdvisor^®, today launched its first-ever mobile Check-Index revealing travelers’ and locals’ most frequented hotels, restaurants and attractions in Hong Kong and Taipei, as well as top check-in spots in various locations across Asia, comparing traveler preferences versus locals. The study was based on TripAdvisor’s massive trove of mobile location data.

“Our mobile Check-Index shows the points of interest where consumers are voting with their feet and actually spending their time,” said Jeff Chow, vice president of product, consumer experience, TripAdvisor. “It’s interesting to see how in some cities travelers and locals are drawn to the same things to do or places to eat, while in others you see distinct differences in their preferences.”

To glean these insights, TripAdvisor studied check-ins via smartphone GPS and motion sensors to predict when and where anonymous users are visiting a spot or if they are just passing by.

Analysis of foot traffic in the following cities reveals the following interesting trends:

Travelers and locals both tend to have good taste, generally choosing highly rated points of interest
Many travelers and locals are drawn to the same tasty eateries, with crossover in several Asian cities studied
The most frequented chain restaurants in Hong Kong by both travelers and locals are Tim Ho Wan, and IKEA Restaurant, while Din Tai Fung and Ice Monster are the top two choices in Taipei.
Travelers are drawn to major tourist attractions, whereas locals often find alternative things to do

Points of Interest with the Greatest Number of Visits: Travelers vs. Locals

Hong Kong

	Travelers	Locals
Hotels	Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers Royal Plaza Hotel	Not applicable
Attractions	Ladies Market Hong Kong Disneyland Victoria Peak (The Peak)	Ladies Market Ap liu Street Market Lan Kwai Fong
Restaurants: Independent	One Dim Sum Chinese Restaurant Temple Street Spicy Crabs Australia Dairy Company	One Dim Sum Chinese Restaurant Chan Kun Kee Dai Pai Dong Tung Po
Restaurants: Chain	Tim Ho Wan, the Dim-Sum Specialists Jade Garden IKEA Restaurant & Cafe	IKEA Restaurant & Cafe Tim Ho Wan, the Dim-Sum Specialists Chao Inn

Taipei, Taiwan

	Travelers	Locals
Hotels	Grand Hyatt Taipei W Taipei Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel	Not applicable
Attractions	Taipei 101 Shilin Nightmarket Miramar Entertainment Park	Taipei 101 Miramar Entertainment Park Huashan 1914 Creative Park
Restaurants: Independent	Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle(Ximending) Chia Te Bakery Yong Kang Beef Noodles	Chia Te Bakery Jin Feng Minced Pork Rice Lin Dong Fang Niu Rou Mian
Restaurants: Chain	Din Tai Fung (Xinyi) Ice Monster Sunny Hills	Din Tai Fung (Xinyi) Ice Monster Sushi Express Jihe Road

Bangkok, Thailand

Travelers

Locals

Hotels	Pathumwan Princess Hotel Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok Amari Watergate Bangkok	Not applicable
Attractions	Khao San Road Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho) Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew)	Siriraj Medical Museum Lumpini Park Ganesha Shrine
Restaurants: Independent	Thip Samai Go Ang - Pratunam Chicken Rice Restaurant T&K Seafood	Roast Papaya Thip Samai
Restaurants: Chain	Secret Recipe Cafe Hard Rock Café Bangkok Baan Khanita by the River	After You Dessert Café – Intersect Rama 3 Secret Recipe Cafe MK Restaurant

Japan

	Travelers	Locals
Osaka
Hotels	Swissotel Nankai Osaka Hotel Nikko Osaka Hilton Osaka	Not applicable
Attractions	Universal Studios Japan Dotonbori Shinsaibashi	Abeno Harukas Universal Studios Japan Dotonbori
Restaurants	Pablo, Shinsaibashi Chibo Dotonbori Ichiran Dotonbori	Muten Kurazushi, Namba Motomachi Kogaryu Takoyaki Main Store Pablo, Shinsaibashi
Tokyo
Hotels	Shinagawa Prince Hotel Tokyo Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo Hilton Tokyo	Not applicable
Attractions	Shibuya Pedestrian Scramble Akihabara Senso-ji Temple	Shibuya Pedestrian Scramble Akihabara Tokyo Dome
Restaurants	Ichiran Shinjuku Central East Entrance Tsukiji Kiyomura Sushi-Zanmai Higashi Shinjuku Gonpachi Nishiazabu	T.Y.Harbor Tsurutontan Roppongi Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama Honten

Methodology: TripAdvisor studied anonymized, aggregated mobile data to reveal the most frequented points of interest in select major tourism destinations. Points of interest highlighted were required to have a minimum of 100 check-ins within the month of March 2017. Grocery stores, transportation facilities, convention centers and shopping malls were excluded from this edition of the TripAdvisor Check-Index. Local check-ins were based on consumers originating within a geo less than 50 km from a respective destination, while traveler check-ins were defined by users originating outside of this perimeter.