As tourists adapt to a new way of travelling and living with COVID-19, many have opted to explore outdoor holiday activities for the sake of health and social distancing. An analysis of data and analytics company GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform, which identifies and tracks emerging trends among discussions on Twitter and Reddit, has revealed hiking, camping, cycling, fishing, and safaris to be the most popular activities undertaken by tourists so far this year.
With more than 4 740 discussions across the social media platforms during H1 2021, “when social distancing has become a new normal way of life, Redditors considered hiking [the best] way to avoid the tourist crowd and enjoy the nature with hiking adventures and photogenic trails,” explains Smitarani Tripathy, Influencer Analyst at GlobalData.
After hiking, camping saw a 30% surge in total discussions (more than 4 020) in H1 2021 as compared to H1 2020. The conversations on camping were largely about best camping spots, safety tips and trip experiences shared by the community.
The third most popular tourist activity was cycling, with more than 1 940 discussions. Redditors appreciated cycling as a sustainable, healthy, and low-cost mode of travel. Redditors also shared their favourite bike trails to fellow riders find safe, easy routes, whether a solo rider or in a group.
Fishing activity was observed as more popular among Twitter Influencers compared to Redditors, with more than 730 discussions.
Finally, going on safaris was the fifth-most popular activity for H1 2021, with over 530 discussions. Discussions were largely based on how national parks and wildlife sanctuaries around the world are trying to get back on track after months of restrictions due to the pandemic.
