Singapore is world's 10th most Instagrammable country in 2018

SINGAPORE - Those planning on travelling to Singapore may now have one more reason to visit: The island has been ranked the 10th most Instagrammable country in the world.

The ranking, which was announced by travel publication Big 7 Travel on Monday (Jan 14), was based on three factors.

The publication analysed the number of hashtags which used a country's name over the course of 2018. Each country received a score depending on the number of hashtags it had. This accounted for half of a country's overall score.

Big 7 Travel also conducted a survey with over 8,400 respondents from 91 countries, who were asked to vote for their most popular destinations. This accounted for 20 per cent of each country's total score.

The remaining 30 per cent of the final tally was based on the score a country was given by a panel of five judges. The judges scored using the following criteria: abundance of Instagrammable spots, originality, natural Instagrammable spots, man-made Instagrammable spots, and Instagrammable food and drink spots.

Though Singapore was ahead of Britain (No. 11) and Japan (No. 15), it lost out to destinations such as South Africa (No. 5) and Hong Kong (No. 2).

Australia claimed the top spot.

Travel media business owner and food writer Niall Harbison, who chaired the judging panel, said Singapore scored highly for "its innovative city landscape and ingenious use of green spaces, as well as its highly Instagrammable food scene with creative cafes and dining options".

He added that the island's name was used in over 60 million hashtags in 2018.

The judges said that Singapore's focus on aesthetic spaces in highly populated areas was "unique" and "modern", citing buildings such as Marina Bay Sands, which the panel recognised as the most Instagrammed hotel in the world.

Seven locations were also picked as the most Instagrammable spots in Singapore: the Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay, the ArtScience Museum, Koon Seng Road, Bugis, Chijmes, the Helix Bridge and the Marina Bay Sands Infinity Pool.

The type of travellers who visited Singapore also tended to be engaged with social media, which helped boost its presence on Instagram.

However, judges said the Republic lacks an abundance of natural attractions, which was responsible for pushing locations such as Canada (No. 3) to the top spots.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.