With more than 1 billion global active users (including more than 150 million users in the United States alone), TikTok’s impact can’t be overstated, especially when it comes to travel.
An earlier study by tourism marketing agency MGH based on a survey of 1,139 U.S. TikTok users evaluated how the app cultivates interest in travel. The study found that 60 percent of the users surveyed felt inspired to travel to a new place after seeing a video about it on the app. Meanwhile, 35 percent turned that inspiration into action, booking trips to destinations they saw on the app.
Recent data supplied by TikTok showed some destinations rose above the rest this year to become the app’s most documented—and coveted—escapes. According to TikTok, here are the cities, states, and countries whose hashtags racked up the highest number of videos this year.
The most popular country hashtags on TikTok:
1. Mexico: 180 billion global views
2. France: 72.6 billion global views
3. Japan: 53.7 billion global views
4. Canada: 47.9 billion global views
5. Italy: 43.7 billion global views
Garnering 180 billion global views, Mexico came out on top as the most popular destination on TikTok in 2023. The country has seen a massive jump in popularity since last year: Posts containing #Mexico saw an increase of nearly 60 percent from 2022.
The most popular city hashtags on TikTok:
1. Dubai: 76.8 billion global views
2. Paris: 47.8 billion global views
3. NewYorkCity and #NYC: 54.6 billion global views
4. Miami: 32.1 billion global views
5. Los Angeles: 22.9 billion global views
Home to the world’s tallest building and a slew of other, equally dazzling architectural oddities, Dubai took the top spot for TikTok’s most popular city of 2023, defeating runner-up Paris by 29 billion views.