The place I call home!
Australia is the most liked country in the world, at least in the social media world.
Tourism Australia’s @Australia has just crept over 1 million followers, dominating Instagram and making it the most successful destination page globally.
Filled with quintessential Australian icons like koalas, kangaroos and rugged landscapes and crystal blue waters it’s no wonder people are heading over to the page for a perusal.
Other countries have jumped on the social media bandwagon but have yet to impress with the same big numbers.
In comparison, Canadian Tourism @explorecananda has 161,000 followers on Instagram, Tourism New Zealand has just 40,000, Great Britain comes in at 14,000 and South Africa with nearly 7500.
Even New York City, one of the most visited cities in the world has only attracted 21,000 followers on their official page.
Tourism Australia is dominating the social sphere amassing a following more than all of those other countries combined.
Tourism Australia has a team of social media experts that have the important job of trawling through over 900 photos submitted daily. Instagrammers use the hashtag #SeeAustralia to have their shot seen by the team, who then republish the best five or six shots each day.
Posting photos of the beautiful landscapes on the page helps promote travel down under and can even make locals like myself more inclined to travel around the country.
One overseas follower writes
“I never thought I would want to go to Australia before I joined Instagram. Now I can’t imagine not going! So beautiful”.
I mean Australia is pretty photogenic which is why it lends itself to be liked by many as well as enticing for thousands to post their own photos in the hopes of being ‘regramed’.
As an Australian expat living in New York City, I use the page to reminisce about my home country as well as to showcase Australia to all my American friends.
The power of social media in tourist destinations is a force to be reckoned with and Australia is obviously doing something right.
Herstory is a weekly column on women and travel by Steph Ridhalgh. Steph is a Sydney born; New York based television producer and travel blogger. Not one for being quiet for too long she simply loves talking about travel and lifestyle.
Steph is the founder of STEP(h) ABROAD, a travel and lifestyle resource for those who love to be in the know and know how.
Connect with her on the web, Facebook and Twitter
