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.
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
Status
In development.
The index is being built. If you'd like to be notified when it's available — or if you have a specific set of destinations you'd like included — get in touch.