Whether you realise it or not, social media likely had something to do with where you went and what you did on your last holiday. Instead of flipping through pocket-sized travel guides, more of us are turning to Instagram and TikTok for travel inspiration, mindlessly scrolling through hashtags until we’ve built a bucket list long enough to last us the next 50 years.
If you’re hoping to find the most picture-perfect destination for your next summer getaway, we’ve got the inside scoop. Tour booking platform Titan Travel has analysed the last three years’ worth of Instagram, TikTok and Google search data to create a new Social Travel Index, revealing the world’s most popular countries right now. They’ve even tracked search volume changes for each country since 2023, hinting at which destinations you’re about to start seeing all over your Instagram and TikTok feeds – if they haven’t already.
If you’re one of the many Aussies who’ve jetted off to Japan in recent years, you won’t be surprised to discover that it topped the list as the number-one trendiest destination on social media. Rising from ninth place in 2023, Japan experienced a whopping 79.71 per cent increase in searches, reaching 703,900 in 2024. India ranked in second place, leading with the highest number of Instagram posts (268,034,839) and TikToks (58,300,000), while Canada followed in third with the largest number of Google searches (737,600).
Australia just missed out on a top ten ranking in the 2023 Social Travel Index, but this year, we rose above Mexico, Türkiye and Indonesia to claim the title as the sixth most popular country on social media.
Our leap from 12th place in 2023 to sixth place in 2024 is largely thanks to the remarkable 245,900 searches that have been made over the past three years. That’s an increase of 79.71 per cent in Google searches for holidays in Australia, more than doubling the growth seen in the three-year period from April, 2019 to March, 2022.
On top of that, Australia soared ahead with more than 81 million Instagram posts and almost 11 million TikTok posts. So, to answer the question we posed earlier – no, social media doesn’t look like it’s tiring of Australia anytime soon.
These are the ten most popular countries on social media:
- Japan
- India
- Canada
- Italy
- Türkiye
- Australia
- France
- Thailand
- Germany
- Spain