If you were on Instagram in 2016, you probably recall when virtually every Insta-celeb was geotagging Singapore on their posts. No, everyone wasn’t vacationing together in the Asian country, but by changing the location of their posts to “Singapore, Singapore,” top Instagrammers — including King Bach and Logan Paul — believed that they would reach more people, end up on the Explore Page, and thus go viral.
regular guy: hey that is 100% in LA
instagram celeb: no it’s Singapore, Singapore
regular guy: but
instagram celeb: i’m verified shh
— chris melberger (@chrismelberger) December 11, 2016
While this specific engagement hack turned out to be a bug, which the photo-sharing platform eventually fixed, it turns out that you can actually reach a wider audience if you tag a specific city, namely “Dubai,” on your TikTok posts.
According to a new study conducted by luggage storage company Bounce on the most popular travel destinations, videos using the hashtag “Dubai” will garner the most views on the popular social media app. Overall, it was found that #Dubai accumulated 81.8 billion views on the video sharing app, beating out destinations like New York City and London, which had 59.5 billion views and 36.8 billion views, respectively.
“Dubai has become one of the most sought-after destinations for holidaymakers who want to soak up the sun in style. This ultra-modern city is home to some of the world’s most astounding architecture, such as the tallest building on Earth, the Burj Khalifa,” Bounce said in a released statement.
Dubai ranked second in the luggage company’s TikTok Travel Index 2021, dethroning last year’s most popular travel destination, New York City.
Indeed, with its year-round sunshine, never-ending skyline, and unrivaled shopping, it should come as no surprise that the tiny emirate usurped the Concrete Jungle for the top spot. In fact, Dubai was one of the few cities that didn’t see its tourism sector completely collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic, with tourist statistics returning to pre-pandemic numbers this year.
Now with the summer holiday upon us, if you’re still unsure of where to vacation, let Bounce’s new study inspire you— you might just gain loads of TikTok views in the process.
