Explore Worldwide is inspiring next year’s wanderlust with a new eye-tracking study of over 50 Unesco sites, which reveals the cultural gems and natural wonders that visually captivate travellers the most.
The new research uses a unique technology to objectively analyse the visually captivating qualities of Unesco sites; participants were asked to look at a series of images of 52 the global landmarks, and the eye-tracking software was then used to reveal which images drew the human eye the quickest, and held their gaze the longest.
The average gaze duration of participants viewing images of these locations enabled Explore Worldwide to find the most captivating Unesco sites, revealing that the Welsh Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal is the most eye-catching site in the world, followed by Canada’s Rocky Mountain Parks and the Carioca landscapes between the mountain and the sea in Rio de Janeiro.
Maloti-Drakensberg Park in South Africa takes the fourth spot as the most captivating Unesco site globally.
The transnational park composed of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg National Park in South Africa and the Sehlathebe National Park in Lesotho, is known for its exceptional natural beauty, incisive dramatic cutbacks, and golden sandstone ramparts as well as visually spectacular sculptured arches, caves, cliffs, pillars and rock pools.
According to Unesco, the site's diversity of habitats protects a high level of endemic and globally important plants.
Visit https://www.explore.co.uk/blog/captivating-unesco-sites for the full list of the world’s most captivating Unesco sites.