A tourist trap is an establishment that has been created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps will typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenirs and other products for tourists to purchase. Wikipedia
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2. Penang Hill was placed 9th among 100 tourist traps worldwide, with Four Corners Movement in Arizona and Salem Witch Museum in Massachusetts claiming the first and second places, respectively.
Penang Hill had 21 mentions of "tourist traps" out of 3,737 Google reviews.
When you’re planning the perfect vacation, you don’t want to spend your time or money on a tourist trap that disappoints. To help you avoid a case of destination letdown, we turned to the treasure trove of data found in online reviews that can help savvy travelers make the most of their vacation planning.
In July 2023, we analyzed 23.2 million Google reviews of the 500 most popular tourist attractions in the world, spanning 65 countries in six continents. For each attraction, we asked a simple question: How frequently do the reviews mention the terms “tourist trap,” “overrated” or “expensive”?
We compared attractions to one another by measuring the relative frequency of these mentions, dividing the number of mentions in each case by the total number of reviews for that attraction. We break down our findings, so you are armed with the information you need before planning to visit a popular tourist destination, and offer tips on how to travel in a way that’s good for your wanderlust and your wallet.
Key findings
The Four Corners Monument (in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah) is the No. 1 tourist trap in the world, according to our analysis.
The Blue Lagoon in Iceland and Penang Hill in Malaysia are the top tourist traps in Europe and Asia.
The Great Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia had 397,905 reviews on Google, as of our analysis, and not a single one mentioned “tourist trap.”
The California Academy of Sciences, Elvis Presley’s Graceland and the South Carolina Aquarium are the most overpriced attractions in the United States.
Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Oregon, is the most overrated tourist attraction in the world.
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Methodology
In July 2023, we analyzed 23.2 million Google reviews of 500 popular tourist attractions in the world, spanning 65 countries in six continents.
We focused our analysis on mentions of certain keywords that indicate a common negative sentiment among visitors. Those keywords are: “tourist trap”, “expensive”, and “overrated”.
It’s true that a few uses of these keywords do not fit in a negative context (e.g. “It’s kind of a tourist trap but we loved it!”). Based on our analysis, these positive instances of usage were not frequent enough to be statistically significant, and in any case, they are consistent enough across attractions to cancel each other out.
We began with a list of 1,600 tourist attractions for consideration, before narrowing to our final 500. We removed from this list, with only a few exceptions, all national parks, state parks, lakes, and mountains. We also removed sports stadiums. The list was further reduced based on the total number of reviews submitted for each attraction.
PUTRAJAYA: Police are on the hunt for the driver and front passenger of a Toyota Vellfire multipurpose vehicle (MPV) after it rammed through several roadblocks and toll barriers in Sepang yesterday.
Sepang police chief Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said the vehicle was initially flagged down at a roadblock in Cyber 8, Jalan Persiaran Apec, Cyberjaya, at around 11.30pm yesterday and the driver was asked to present his identification documents and licence.
“The driver ignored the order and sped away,” Wan Kamarul said in a statement, adding that the police control centre was then alerted to track down the vehicle.
A patrol car then chased the Vellfire on the Putrajaya Expressway where it crashed through the toll barrier at the Elite Expressway exit towards KLIA, before ramming through the Serenia toll barrier at the Elite Expressway exit to Dengkil.
The MPV then sped through another roadblock at the Jalan Dengkil-Banting stretch and finally skidded to a stop at a road shoulder in Kampung Olak Lempit, Banting, Selangor.
“The driver and front passenger escaped, but we managed to detain two passengers seated in the back,” Wan Kamarul said, adding that the MPV stopped about 20km away from the initial roadblock in Cyberjaya.
He said the detained passengers were a foreign couple, aged 21 and 32, who did not have valid travel documents.
Wan Kamarul said two clear packages containing crystals believed to be syabu, weighing about 103.61gm, were found in the vehicle.
#NSTnation Police are on the hunt for the driver and front passenger of a Toyota Vellfire Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV), who rammed through several roadblocks and toll barriers in Sepang yesterday.https://t.co/jQLbVIIwU6
China: World must be prepared for a disease like Covid-19, warns study | Latest World News | WION "Batwoman" Shi Zhengli, one of China's most well-known virologists, has issued a warning, stating that there is "highly likely" to be another coronavirus in the future. Source: WION… pic.twitter.com/1tfvdibc7I
After China’s “batwoman” Shi Zhengli warned of another coronavirus outbreak being “highly likely”, other Chinese virologists shot down the possibility of outbreak the world experienced in the past three years, said the immune system most population gained during this period… pic.twitter.com/aZusudYSx2
China’s ‘batwoman’ scientist warns another coronavirus outbreak is ‘highly likely’
One of China’s best-known virologists Shi Zhengli, also known as “batwoman”, has warned that it is “highly likely” another coronavirus will appear in future.https://t.co/uZ5xpPRCmR
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 26): Chinese investors rattled by the country’s shaky financial situation have raced to offload foreign properties as their household wealth dwindles.
The London-based Daily Express in a report on Monday (Sept 25) said hundreds of middle-class families who bought investment properties before the Covid pandemic in 2020 have mounted a frantic search for potential buyers following China’s bumpy reopening earlier this year.
Citing Guangdong-based property agent Stephen Yao as telling the South China Morning Post, the daily said affluent Chinese nationals have struggled to afford payments on homes that once would have given them attractive returns.
Yao, who represents more than 200 families, said the mass selloffs were indicative of the wide-ranging effects on people’s incomes.
He said: “A number of them can no longer afford the final payment for their property investment and desperately need cash to solve their domestic financial problems, such as business failures, lay-offs and mortgage loan defaults.
“Some no longer have the extra funds to continue holding these overseas properties.”
The report added that foreign investment from Chinese residents in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and beyond have also left properties built by domestic companies in peril.
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