Instagram which recently celebrated its 5 year anniversary has 400 million users with 75% outside the United States. Instagram’s user base surpasses Twitter’s 316 million users becoming the number two social media platform behind Facebook’s 1.49billion monthly active users.
Instagram has a very active community with 80 million photos shared daily resulting in 3.5billion likes. In total, over 40 billion photos have been shared on Instagram since launching on 6th October 2010.
Based on these figures, and also the general consensus that Instagram is great for travel and tourism brands, was somewhat surprised (and disappointed) to see that Instagram only accounted for 2.5% of the social media fans/followers in our Caribbean & Co. Digital Marketing Index 2015 for 35 Caribbean Destinations. Surprising seven of the destinations didn’t even have Instagram accounts. Hopefully, this will change in the near future as the photo-sharing platform owned by Facebook continues to go from strength to strength.
That said, below is a list of the top ten Caribbean destinations on Instagram. Aruba leads with 23,000 followers nearly double the count of second place Bermuda with 12,000 followers. Antigua & Barbuda places third with 9,400 followers.
Instagram Rank 1: Aruba: approximately 23,000 followers
Instagram Rank 2: Bermuda: approximately 12,000 followers
Our version of #MondayBlues #GoToBermuda A photo posted by Bermuda (@bermuda) on
Instagram Rank 3: Antigua & Barbuda: approximately 9,400 followers
Instagram Rank 4: Cayman Islands: approximately 8,800 followers
#TBT Pirates Week 2011 A photo posted by Cayman Islands (@visitcaymanislands) on
Instagram Rank 5: Barbados: approximately 8,700 followers
Instagram Rank 6: Haiti: approximately 7,000 followers
#ArtisanatEnFête | jour 2: Le Ministère du Tourisme est fier d’avoir été l’un des grands supporteurs de cette 9e édition. Nous remercions tous ceux qui ont contribué à l’organisation et à la réussite de cet évènement important au niveau du secteur de l’artisanat. Spécialement la grande foule qui a fait le déplacement et les emplettes de produits du terroir et nos chers talentueux artisans. A l’année prochaine pour une 10e, en attendant nous continuons à supporter les industries créatives et les artisans à travers le pays. Merci. #tourisme #haiti A photo posted by Ministère du Tourisme d’Haïti (@mtourismehaiti) on
Instagram Rank 7: Curaçao: approximately 6,800 followers
Instagram Rank 8: British Virgin Islands: approximately 6,400 followers
This Sunday is beach day at Long Bay, Tortola. #beach #bvi #bvisecrets #wanderlust #travel #caribbean #sun #tlpicks A photo posted by British Virgin Islands (@britishvirginis) on
Instagram Rank 9: Dominican Republic: approximately 5,700 followers
Instagram Rank 10: The Bahamas: approximately 5,500 fans
If you dare. 📷 @tracy_komlos #ItsBetterInTheBahamas A photo posted by The Bahamas 🌴☀️ (@visitthebahamas) on
With the follower count for the top ten Caribbean destinations on Instagram only ranging from 5,500 to 23,000 followers out of a possible 400 million, there is clearly room for growth. And one travel/tourism brand that Caribbean destinations can look to for inspiration is Tourism Australia who have an engaged community of 1.8million followers on Instagram. Their strategy is to rely on visitor-generated content, sharing daily the best of those photos posted to Instagram with the #SeeAustralia hashtag. Other travel brands work with bloggers/digital influencers to help spread the word about the destination and in turn grow the audience. Both are winning strategies and really Caribbean destinations just need to pick one (or perhaps try a mix of both) and begin working more aggressively to capture market share on Instagram with the ultimate goal of encouraging more people to visit their destination.
P.S.: If you are on Instagram, in addition to following the destinations above, also follow Caribbean & Co. We appreciate the support. :)
Top photo: Aruba – Romantic Couple On Beach. Photo: ©Aruba Tourism Authority.
