When planning a holiday trip, one of the most challenging aspects is selecting a vacation spot. While browsing numerous reviews can be helpful, one of the primary indicators of people's enjoyment is captured in their joyful vacation snaps. As it happens, one of our country's main skating rinks, Medeu, is considered to be among them, as its breathtaking vistas are recognized as one of the hundred vacation spots worldwide where people experience the happiest holiday trips, QazMonitor reports citing Casago.
According to a facial analysis study of Instagram vacation photos by Casago, 43% of people on average smile across the most 'smile-inducing' tourist spots in every country. After studying 63,000 Instagram vacation photos from 1,000 global tourist attractions to determine which ones trigger the most smiles among visitors, the analysts ranked the attractions based on the percentage of happy faces present in their photos. The study utilized a facial recognition AI tool to calculate the proportion of images with happy faces to reveal the happiest destinations.
Located in the Medeu Valley, the namesake skating rink holds the 19th spot in the Asia and Oceania region and ranks 74th overall. This high-altitude sports complex near Almaty stands as one of our country's main tourist attractions. The study highlights that 35.4% of quick snaps taken at the breathtaking sight of the Tian-Shan mountain range reflect a joyful vacation experience. Among the other sites in Central Asia mentioned in the list is the Bibi-Khanym mosque in Uzbekistan's Samarkand, which scored 25.9% on the happiness scale.
Latin America dominates the top 20, comprising 14 of the world's happiest spots. Within this selection is the lush and picturesque Botanical Garden in Rio de Janeiro, where 66.7% of photos capture smiling faces. Similarly, the vista of the Inca Trail in Peru showcases a mesmerizing display of human ingenuity and the awe-inspiring sight of the green-covered Andes, also scoring 66.7% on the happiness scale. Notably, the happiest non-Latin American site is situated in Sri Lanka, where tourists witnessing the lone silhouette of Pidurangala Rock are left with a lasting impression. Its score is 66.2%.