The digital world’s borders are expanding continuously year by year and as a matter of fact, tourism is not an exception. The importance of the so called digital travel cannot be questioned and the following years will only strengthen its already solid position.
According to a study by the Allied Market Research, the global digital travel sector will be worth $ 1,091 billion by 2022. It is expected that the figure will be reached as more markets are opening up to web services. The aim is to adjust to the current trends and reach as many people as possible.
Digital Country Index
With the growing importance of the virtual world, the Digital Country Index has become a statistical indicator of the movement in the digital world. This year, in its second edition, the index has indicated that real-world events are reflected in the digital world as well. Politics and socio-economic events heavily influenced the dynamics of the virtual world.
The Digital Country Index, comprised by Bloom Consulting, compiles the measurement of the total amount of searches performed by all worldwide citizens towards any given country. The search is divided into 5 dimensions, including tourism. The countries’ position depends on the total number of searches for each dimension.
Countries on the Top
Spain leads the Digital Country Index in terms of tourism, with 43% dimension search volume. Britain finished 1st in the overall rankings, but 4th in the tourism ranking, due to the fact that searches are more concentrated on the current political situation within the UK.
France is not far away from the top, occupying the third place. However, with the terror threat still hanging over the country, international visitors are quite hesitant when it comes to traveling there. Moreover, there have been more and more searches for ‘Political leaders’ (+57%), shifting the focus from the beauties of France to the political situation.
Finland is among countries that has made a leap in terms of digital travel. The Land of Lakes has been helped by its offer of ‘natural wonders’, such as the ethereal Northern Lights.
Another growing country in terms of tourism is South Africa. The main searches are ‘boating’ and ‘animal watching’. Germany also has a growing digital travel market, as the European country rose by 10 positions compared to the same index last year. Among other top destinations there are Italy, Japan, and Thailand.
The Other End
However, there are also countries that did not exactly shine in the index regarding digital travel. The USA, while being 2nd overall, are just 15th in terms of tourism searches. Canada is in a similar position, with the worse overall ranking, but a better tourism ranking by one place.
Brazil was also expected to be higher, but its factual position in terms of tourism is 25th, despite the fact that the Summer Olympics were held there. Unfortunately, there are more substantial problems in the South American country, such as political corruption.
Overall it can be said that countries with general political instability and high-profile elections in the past year, are those who have fallen in terms of the tourism index. The reason for this is the change of focus of the searches to more recent and relevant topics. However, except the usual big names on the list, there are a couple of surprises, such as Thailand in 6th or Mexico in 9th position.
It is also predicted, that in the future China (currently 12th) will be moving upwards and may get the lion’s share of attention. Though, in terms of growth, India is the country where the fastest growth is expected.
Top 10 Digital Travel Countries
- Spain
- Italy
- France
- United Kingdom
- Japan
- Thailand
- Germany
- Australia
- Mexico
- Turkey