Tourism officials in Japan are trying a new approach to figure out what brings visitors here. They've been trawling social media to see what foreigners talk about.
Officials at the Japan Tourism Agency looked through twitter messages in October through November, and they checked where people went by examining GPS data from smartphones.
They say two of the most widely used words in messages about food were "ramen" and "sushi," and they say people who visited Tokyo's Akihabara district often tweeted the words "anime" and "maid cafe." Many tourists said they wanted to buy tea-flavored chocolate and banana-flavored cakes as gifts to take home.
Agency officials say the results show Japanese subcultures are attracting a healthy interest from visitors. The officials plan to conduct a similar survey on a larger scale this year.
◆figure out 解明する、把握する
◆trawl 広い場所をくまなく探す
◆Japan Tourism Agency 観光庁
◆conduct 実施する
