TUI Musement reveals the most Instagrammed skyscrapers

August 20, 2025

Tours & Activities

The study compares Instagram mentions between 2022 and 2025
Burj Khalifa tops the list with over 8,7 million posts
One Vanderbilt sees the highest growth in popularity, while New York dominates the top 10 with four entries

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai once again leads the global ranking of the most mentioned skyscrapers on Instagram, with more than 8.7 million posts. This is according to a new study by TUI Musement, a leading provider of tours and activities, which examines the most popular skyscrapers on social media and tracks the growth in their visibility between 2022 and 2025. The report is released ahead of Skyscraper Day, celebrated annually on September 3rd.

Standing 828 meters tall, the Burj Khalifa continues to dominate not only Dubai’s skyline but also social media. Its multiple observation decks, including At the Top on the 124th and 125th floors, and At the Top Sky on the 148th, offer sweeping views of the city, desert, and the Persian Gulf, making it a must-visit for travellers and content creators alike.

In second place is New York’s iconic Empire State Building. A fixture in countless films and TV shows, this symbol of the Big Apple remains a cultural and tourist favourite. Its 86th-floor open-air observation deck offers a 360° view of the city, including landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park and the Statue of Liberty.

Taking third place is Taipei 101, Taiwan’s tallest skyscraper. At 508 meters tall and designed to resemble a bamboo stalk, a symbol of resilience and prosperity in Eastern culture, it’s known for both its architecture and its high-speed elevators, which whisk visitors to the top in seconds.

One World Trade Center, also in New York, ranks fourth. Opened in 2014 as a symbol of resilience, it is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The One World Observatory offers breathtaking views, and its Skypod elevators feature immersive time-lapse visuals showing the city’s transformation through the decades.

In fifth place is Willis Tower in Chicago. Once the tallest building in the world (from 1973 to 1998), this Windy City icon owes much of its online popularity to the 103rd-floor Skydeck and The Ledge, a series of glass-floored balconies suspended in the air, perfect for a thrilling photo op.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur take sixth place. Until recently the tallest buildings in Malaysia, these twin towers, connected by a two-story skybridge, remain one of Southeast Asia’s top tourist attractions. The 86th-floor observation deck, perched 370 meters above the city, continues to captivate visitors.

One Vanderbilt, located in New York, stands out as the building with the highest growth in Instagram mentions since 2022, a 189% increase. Opened just five years ago, it has climbed from tenth to seventh place, becoming one of the city’s hottest new attractions. Its immersive observation experience blends art, design, and technology, and features glass boxes suspended 325 meters above the ground, offering a striking new perspective of Manhattan.

30 Hudson Yards, also in New York, claims the eighth spot. Its main draw is Edge, an observation deck launched in 2020 that’s taken social media by storm, with an 80% increase in mentions over the past three years. Part of the open-air terrace on the 100th floor features a glass floor, an instant favourite for daring Instagram shots.

Ninth place goes to Lotte World Tower in Seoul. With 129 floors, it houses a shopping mall, cultural spaces, a hotel, and the Seoul Sky observatory, which offers 360° views of the South Korean capital. Its elegant design and all-in-one experience have made it a growing social media presence.

Closing out the top 10 is Shanghai Tower, which stands 632 meters tall, making it the tallest building in China and the third tallest in the world. Its observation deck on the 118th floor overlooks the Huangpu River and the Pudong financial district skyline, while floors 125 and 126 host an interactive art experience.

*Methodology: The study analysed the 100 tallest skyscrapers in the world. For each building, Instagram mentions from their two most-used hashtags were tallied. The data from June 2025 was compared with 2022 figures to identify both the most popular buildings and those with the highest growth in mentions.

Ranking:

Burj Khalifa: over 8,700,000 mentions (+38 % vs 2022)
Empire State Building: over 4,500,000 mentions (+7 % vs 2022)
Taipéi 101: over 913,000 mentions (+12 % vs 2022)
One World Trade Center: over 833,000 mentions (+5 % vs 2022)
Willis Tower: over 590,000 mentions (+5 % vs 2022)
Petronas Towers: over 294,000 mentions (+33 % vs 2022)
One Vanderbilt: over 171,000 mentions(+189 % vs 2022)
30 Hudson Yards: over 133,000 mentions (+80 % vs 2022)
Lotte World Tower: over 120,000 mentions (+9 % vs 2022)
Shanghai Tower: over 114,000 mentions (+9 % vs 2022)

About TUI Musement 

TUI Musement is a global Tours & Activities business that combines a highly curated product portfolio, scalable digital platforms and in-destination service by local teams, to source, develop, distribute and deliver products in three categories:

Experiences: Excursions, activities & attraction tickets
Transfers: Between airports, hotels and ports
Tours: Multi-day itineraries encompassing hotels, experiences, guides and transportation

Available in all major beach and city destinations, products are sourced from leading travel businesses or developed in-house by TUI teams, including the TUI Collection, the flagship experiences portfolio of TUI Group, and National Geographic Day Tours, unique and immersive small group guided experiences. Products are distributed to customers, including the 20+ million TUI customers, through TUI websites and apps – such as the Tours & Activities dedicated TUI Musement app, as well as in-destination local teams and B2B partners, including some of the world's leading OTAs, tour operators, airlines, hotels, travel agencies and cruise lines. TUI Musement is one of the major growth areas of the TUI Group and employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide.

 
About TUI Group 

The TUI Group is one of the world's leading tourism groups and operates worldwide. The Group is headquartered in Germany. TUI shares are listed in the MDAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the regulated market of the Lower Saxony Stock Exchange in Hanover. 

TUI Group offers its over 20 million customers integrated services from a single source and forms the entire tourism value chain under one roof. The Group owns over 400 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson and 18 cruise ships, ranging from the MS Europa and MS Europa 2 in the luxury class and expedition ships in the HANSEATIC class to the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI Cruises and cruise ships operated by Marella Cruises in the UK. The Group also includes Europe's leading tour operator brands and online marketing platforms, for example for hotel-only or flight-only offers, five airlines with more than 125 modern medium- and long-haul aircraft and around 1,200 travel agencies. In addition to expanding its core business with hotels and cruises via successful joint ventures and activities in vacation destinations, TUI is increasingly focusing on the expansion of digital platforms. The Group is transforming itself into a global tourism platform company. 

Global responsibility for sustainable economic, environmental and social action is at the heart of our corporate culture. With projects in 25 countries, the TUI Care Foundation initiated by TUI focuses on the positive effects of tourism, on education and training and on strengthening environmental and social standards. In this way, it supports the development of vacation destinations. The globally active TUI Care Foundation initiates projects that create new opportunities for the next generation.

Maria Sierra

maria.sierra@tui.com

August 20, 2025