For many people, a core part of going on vacation is posting moments from the trip on Instagram (META) , while others use the social media platform to discover places they’d like to visit.
Numbers from Credit Karma show that 37% of Americans pick their travel destinations at least partially by what they’ve seen on Instagram while the 19% who specifically seek out activities they can do while traveling is even higher than the 17% who use it to find restaurants.
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Two national parks are very popular on Instagram (but Disney still tops)
A new report by casino comparison platform Casino Alpha shows that two national parks made the list of the top 20 most-Instagrammed tourist destinations in the U.S. by total hashtag numbers.
Grand Canyon, which saw over 4.7 million visitors recorded by the National Park Service in 2023, had more than 4.4 million posts under the #GrandCanyon hashtag at the time the numbers were counted for the report.
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“The natural wonder is famed for its red rock layers, which are one of the most visible examples of arid land erosion in the world,” write the report’s authors. “The attraction’s serene backdrop has made it a hugely popular picture spot.”
This makes the national park the eighth most-posted tourist destination on Instagram, but still pales in comparison to the most social media-friendly place of them all: Walt Disney World (DIS) .
The iconic park behind Cinderella’s Castle, Main Street and countless themed rides has a whopping 11 million photos under its hashtag, while Universal Studios (UETMF) parks in Florida and California had just over 8.2 million (they were sandwiched at first and third place around Central Park in New York City).
Yosemite National Park in Northern California also had a total of 1,651,985 posts under the Yosemite hashtag while Big Sur (not a national park but a state one) in the central part of the state had 1,631,230. Zion National Park in Utah had 1,535,770 which puts the three parks in 18th, 19th and 20th places.
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Why are some destinations so social media-friendly? It all depends on the place
No other national park landed in the top 20 although Niagara Falls, which is split by the U.S.-Canada border and in the United States is classified as a state park, was 10th.
Other tourist attractions to score highly include larger areas such as the Broadway Theater District and Times Square in New York City, Venice Beach in California and the Las Vegas Strip famous for its countless casinos and themed hotels.
While many of the top-scorers coincide with the country’s most popular destinations, the places that had the most social media posts usually also had numerous scenic areas that a visitor would photograph over the course of a single visit.
In recent years, several national parks have also been promoting responsible photography — in particular, not getting too close to wildlife just because one wants a stellar picture.
“If you want to take a picture of the animals, use a zoom lens on your camera,” the government agency in charge of parks wrote in one of its safety guides. “If you are close enough to take a selfie, you are wayyyy too close.”
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