In an era of remote work, the concept of being a digital nomad and the remote office is gaining traction worldwide with one report recently covered by City Monitor claiming Bucharest as the best European city for digital nomads. However, a recent study conducted by resume.io has identified the destinations most popular among globetrotting workers using a different approach.
Resume.io turned to Instagram, the social media platform that captures the trends in modern-day remote working. By analysing 25,976 Instagram posts featuring #digitalnomad, it extracted insights (while ensuring the exclusion of spam accounts and bots).
Its methodology involved examining the posts’ content and location tags. If a post lacked a location tag, the content was analysed to determine the associated country. With these measures, the report compiled a list of the top destinations for digital nomads.
Top destinations for digital nomads according to Instagram
Globally, the US emerged as the most popular country, with 210,664 estimated #digitalnomad posts at the time of the report’s conclusion. Spain and Thailand secured the second and third positions, with 125,038 and 124,729 posts respectively. Mexico, France, Indonesia, Portugal, Italy, the UK and India completed the top ten.
Looking at specific cities, London claimed the crown as the top digital nomad destination in terms of social media engagement, with 20,556 #digitalnomad posts. Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Athens, Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin, Funchal and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria rounded out the top ten European destinations.
In North America, New York City was hailed as the digital nomad capital, attracting 18,547 posts. Mexico City, Miami, Playa del Carmen, Los Angeles, Tulum, Washington DC, San Francisco, Oaxaca City and Las Vegas followed closely behind.
Across South America, Buenos Aires emerged as the leading destination, garnering 8,037 #digitalnomad posts. Rio de Janeiro, Medellín, São Paulo, Cartagena, Santiago, Santa Marta, Quito, Bogotá and Florianópolis secured their spots in the top ten.
On the African continent, Cape Town stood out as the primary choice for digital nomads, with 9,428 posts. Marrakech, Nairobi, Luxor, Hurghada, Agadir, Dahab, Dakar, Algiers and Cairo featured prominently in the rankings.
In the Middle East and western Asia, Dubai led the pack with 11,746 #digitalnomad posts. Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Antalya, Male, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Göreme, Aqaba and Ürgüp were also favoured destinations among digital nomads.
Lastly, in Asia-Pacific, Bangkok in Thailand topped the charts with 20,247 posts. Chiang Mai, Ubud, Singapore, Badung, Ko Phangan, Kuala Lumpur, Denpasar, Krabi and Seoul completed the top ten destinations for digital nomads in the region.
[Read more: Remote working: How a surge in digital nomads is pricing out local communities around the world]
