Intelligence / Destination Instagram Index
Follower counts don't mean what they seem to.
A destination with 800,000 Instagram followers sounds like it has a strong social presence. Whether it does depends on how many visitors it receives, how competitive its market is, and whether the account is actually official.
The Destination Instagram Index benchmarks official destination accounts by what matters: reach relative to visitor volume, population, and verified authority — not raw follower numbers.
The index
+ About the data− About the data
Visitor figures:We aim to use international tourist arrivals as the primary metric, sourced from national tourism organisations and UNWTO. Where that isn't available, we use the closest comparable figure and note the definition. Domestic tourism is significant for many destinations and is not captured here.
Comparability: Visitor definitions vary — some figures reflect overnight stays, others include same-day visitors or all trips. Ratios are most meaningful when comparing destinations of a similar type (countries with countries, cities with cities).
Follower counts: Manually verified against the official account at time of entry. Figures become outdated — if you spot an error, use the form below.
Better data? If you have access to more accurate or complete visitor statistics — particularly from official national sources — we welcome submissions via the form at the bottom of this page.
17 destinations · page 1 of 2
| Destination ↕ | Followers ↓ | Per 1k visitors ↕ |
|---|---|---|
AustraliaOceania | 5.8M | 699 per 1k visitors |
SpainEurope | 1.0M | 10.3 per 1k visitors |
ItalyEurope | 880K | 8.46 per 1k visitors |
PortugalEurope | 859K | 26.4 per 1k visitors |
MexicoAmericas | 740K | 15.5 per 1k visitors |
Pariscity · Europe | 696K | 18.6 per 1k visitors |
GreeceEurope | 688K | 18.2 per 1k visitors |
JapanAsia | 649K | 15.5 per 1k visitors |
EgyptAfrica | 441K | 23.2 per 1k visitors |
ThailandAsia | 319K | 9.70 per 1k visitors |
FranceEurope | 306K | 3.00 per 1k visitors |
Cape Towncity · Africa | 270K | 45.0 per 1k visitors |
South AfricaAfrica | 251K | 17.7 per 1k visitors |
Johannesburgcity · Africa | 24K | 5.50 per 1k visitors |
Casablancacity · Africa | 23K | 15.4 per 1k visitors |
* Australia: visitor figure reflects international visitor arrivals (trips). Ratios not directly comparable to other entries.
Social punch factor
Which destinations have a disproportionately large Instagram following relative to their population? Punch factor shows how far above or below the average each destination sits — compared within type so countries are only measured against other countries, cities against cities.
Countries
Cities
What the data shows
Paris outperforms France — the city beats the country.
France's national account (@explorefrance) receives far more visitors than Paris but earns just 3.0 followers per 1,000 of them. Paris (@parisjetaime) earns 18.6 per 1,000 — 6× the efficiency. This pattern likely holds for other major cities: the city account builds a more passionate, specific audience than the national one.
France has the lowest follower-to-visitor ratio in the index.
With 102M annual visitors and 306K followers, France's official account earns just 3.00 followers per 1,000 visitors. Whether that reflects a gap in digital strategy, a fragmented official presence, or simply that visitors don't seek out the account — it's worth investigating.
What it measures
Followers per annual visitor
How many Instagram followers does a destination have for every international visitor it receives? A destination with 2 million followers but 10 million visitors is less digitally efficient than one with 500,000 followers and 300,000 visitors.
Followers per capita
A population-adjusted measure of a destination's Instagram presence. Useful for comparing city and regional accounts where absolute visitor numbers aren't the right denominator.
Verification confidence
Not every account that claims to be an official destination Instagram is. The index includes evidence scoring — whether the tourism website links to the account, and vice versa.
Destinations & NTOs
- →Understand where your Instagram presence sits relative to comparable destinations
- →Identify whether your follower base is proportionate to your visitor volume
- →Track changes in your relative position over time
Operators & researchers
- →Assess a destination's digital authority before building a marketing partnership
- →Identify under-digitised destinations where Instagram presence lags visitor volume
- →Use as a baseline layer in broader market intelligence work
Correct or contribute
Help us keep the index accurate.
Visitor statistics are notoriously inconsistent across sources. If you manage a destination account, work in tourism research, or have access to more accurate data — we want to hear from you.
We review all submissions before applying changes. If your destination isn't in the index yet, you can request it here — include what type of destination it is (country, city, region) and we'll add it to the queue.
For the visitor figures, we aim to use international tourist arrivalsas the primary metric. If that's not available for your destination, total arrivals (domestic + international) or overnight stays are useful alternatives — just note which one.
Want to understand what this data means for your destination's strategy? We work with DMOs on digital presence and market intelligence.