Colombo, the capital of island country, Sri Lanka is the number one ‘must-photograph’ travel destination of 2019. As per a poll covering an approx. 1.3 million social media posts, the winner was the most searched and clicked city. Most people wanted to click on a picture of the Asian city of Colombo in 2019. Yokohama in Japan and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, were a close second and third.
Commissioned by Huawei to celebrate the launch of its new P Smart 2019 device, the research was carried out to understand the travel preferences of people to newer and lesser known destinations.
The research found that the novelty factor is extremely high for 18-25-year olds. More and more people look for places that haven’t been visited by friends and acquaintances. More than a third said that they want to be the first to find new travel hotspots, take the photo and post it online.
The mantra of ‘if it’s not on social it didn’t happen’ is very much alive, with 16 per cent of Gen-Zs deciding on locations that are most ‘Instagrammable’ when planning their travels.
Mobile phones also make for perfect travel companions, with two thirds (66%) claiming it to be the ultimate travel essential.
Justin Costello, Huawei director of marketing, UK and Ireland, said: “It’s interesting to see that Gen Z are keen to get out and explore the world by treading their own path – enabling them to share with friends their experiences in these new ‘must shoot’ destinations on social media.”
GenZ is also more involved with the idea of being connected all the time, be able to capture scale, colours and beauty of locations visited and then be able to share these life experiences through photography. This according to most, is called the latest explorer bug.
The fourth position was taken by Baden-Baden in Germany’s Black Forest while fifth and sixth positions were taken by Old San Juan in Puerto Rico and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, respectively. Kartarpur in Pakistan, Wadi Rum in Jordan, Icy Strait Point in Alaska and Isle of Harris in Scotland secured the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth ranks, respectively.
Here are the top ten ‘must photograph’ travel destinations for 2019
1. Colombo, Sri Lanka
2. Kobe/Yokohama, Japan
3. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Uganda
4. Baden-Baden, Germany
5. Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
6. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
7. Kartarpur, Narowal District, Pakistan
8. Wadi Rum, National Park, Jordan
9. Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), US (Alaska)
10. Isle of Harris, Scotland