Its been 15 years since Google Map launched its Google Street view, a virtual representation of the surrounding and eye-catching destinations on Google Maps, consisting of millions of panoramic images.
Street View has made tremendous accomplishments since then, from reaching under water to record the Great Barrier Reef in 2012, to being available in Virtual Reality (VR) in 2015, to visiting the ‘Top of the World’ in Canada in 2017. It has already spread to over 100 countries and territories around the world, capturing over 10 million miles of imagery. enough to circle the globe more than 400 times!
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To mark the 15 years anniversary of Street View, Google Maps has released data showing the most clicks and searches in Nigeria, as well as globally. These searches include places of interest, beaches, and popular museums.
Oniru beach emerges top in beaches street view searches
Oniru emerged as the most clicked beach in Nigeria. The beach is one of the most popular private beaches in Lagos and is owned and managed by the Oniru Royal family.
Other beaches that made the top three beaches clicked in Nigeria in the past year are Elegushi Royal Beach and Marwa Beach; both also located in Lagos; the former being privately owned by the Elegushi royal family in Lekki, Lagos state and the latter, an ocean front along the Lagos Coastline located in Lekki.
The Benin National Museum Continually draws admirers
The National Museum in Benin City Edo, famous for its terracotta, bronze and cast iron artefacts related to the Benin Empire was the most clicked on museums in Nigeria in the past year.
The museum continues to draw culture/art lovers from all around the world who are also interested in the culture of the Bini empire, especially the crafting and sculptural representations of various elements in Benin.
In second and third positions is the National War Museum in Umuahia, Abia, which showcases the military history of Nigeria with relics from the Biafra-Nigerian Civil War and Kalakuta Museum in Ikeja, Lagos, which preserves the artefacts of the legendary King of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti.
Nigeria’s Premier University draws interest
Nigeria’s premier university, the University of Ibadan emerged as the fourth most searched place of interest in the country. It comes after the Bariga Waterfront Jetty, Nike Art Gallery, and Lekki Conservation Centre – all in Lagos. The only other University that made the top five was the University of Benin in Edo.
Nike Art Centre, Pizza Hut Lekki, Lagos, and Cosjane Mall, Lagos, made the 2nd, 8th and 10th most searched places of interest.
Globally, the Burj Khalifa, Dubai, received the most clicks for any other place of interest, followed by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, and the Taj Mahal in India.
For the “city of love”, Paris continually stands tall when it comes to tourists’ preferred destination, for its aesthetics. The Eiffel Tower is a perfect representation of what the city stands for and what it offers to visitors trooping in.
The points of interest indicate that more people were willing to go out to tour centres, having stayed most of 2020 and the first part of 2021 indoors.
As for the Universities, the search interests may have been influenced by news reports.
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