I remember feeling somewhat cheated by Instagram on a trip to Luang Prabang three years ago.

My friends and I had seen photos of Kuang Si Waterfalls on the social medium and we trekked all way to the mythical-looking blue lagoon. Much to our crushing disappointment, the real thing looked nothing like the photos (surely some people should learn how to manage powerful photo filters).

I kind of fell out of love with Instagram after that. My account laid dormant — instead of posting, I simply lurked to see what friends were up to. But I noticed that pictures started looking a lot better and more realistic over time; good travel photos were accompanied by more meaningful and informative captions; feeds resembled galleries, many with curated themes — from #architecture to #vsco. Slowly but surely, I was lured out of my Luddite shell to resume using and interacting on Instagram two months ago.

Now thanks to Instagram, I know exactly which cafes I’ll be hitting when I’m in Penang at the end of the month. And I can be sure, unlike the last time when we simply followed hashtags blindly, the cafes would be of a certain quality based on the feed of like-minded users whom I’m following.

This is barely scratching the surface of how Instagram has changed the way people travel. At the other end of the spectrum is an American luxury travel agency, Bruvion Travel, which dangled out a 24/7 social media assistant as part of its tour offerings last month. For US$500 (S$640) a day, this social media assistant’s main job is “capturing and documenting every aspect of the ... vacation, edit photos and share those memories over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram” so travellers needn’t bring a selfie stick or interrupt the experience at the museum just to think of a witty Instagram caption. To further illustrate the point, the Instagram account Passengers Shaming was started a year ago and has only 71 pictures. But it has 206,000 followers. Clearly, people simply love to share both the good — and bad — of their travels.

THE COMMUNITY AT WORK

You needn’t take a plane to feel Instagram’s reach. For popular users such as Joshua Cheok, who has 45,000 followers, Instagram has made him a de facto tour guide of sorts. The financial planner, who goes by the handle j.osh, estimates 60 per cent of his followers are from overseas and he gets queries from these followers on where he shoots his pictures, or suggestions on where to visit when they’re in Singapore.

“I met a few Instagrammers from the Philippines for coffee and I’ve taken other foreign friends from Instagram for a walk around the Esplanade,” said Cheok. “Recently a group of exchange students from Turkey messaged me directly for ideas on where they could visit and I’d probably meet them. I enjoy the meet-ups — it’s a good way to hang out with people with similar interests.”

Likewise, Cheok taps the Instagram community when he plans his trips, asking the people he follows for recommendations when going on vacations to Europe, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. “I like to see the kind of shots which are taken and go there myself to see if it’s really what it’s photographed to be. If it’s nice, I’ll challenge myself to take a better photo or make a better edit.”

Tips and recommendations aside, travel is fun when you’re part of an Instagram community. Ivan Kuek, the founder of Singapore Instagram (@SGIG), organised trips to Malacca in 2010 and 2012 with his members; he’s in the midst of planning another to Bali this December to meet up with the Instagram community there.

“It’s a whole network of Instagrammers with whom you can carpool or share lodging. It’s like a big family, helping one another when on a holiday,” he said.

As an Instagram community leader, Kuek has hosted visitors to Singapore and linked them up with local Instagrammers. “It makes the world a smaller place where everyone accepts you as part of a larger community,” he said.

Kuek also helped out at an Asia Pacific Instameet held two years ago in Singapore where Instagrammers from Australia, Japan, Indonesia and Brunei came over for sight-seeing, workshops and, naturally, photo-taking. Such Instameets are a phenomenon, such as the recently concluded Worldwide InstaMeet 10 last weekend, where Instagrammers in hundreds of cities around the world gathered together to take photos and videos, and connect around a shared passion.

The travel industry has taken to the idea of Instameets too: Hotels and tourism boards compete to outdo one another with Instameets. Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab and @beautifuldestinations organised the “world’s ultimate Instameet” in June, where 10 Instagram users were given suite stays with private butlers and a helicopter tour. Tourism Queensland held what was billed as the world’s largest Instameet last weekend so much that its hashtag (#thisisqueensland) outdid the Instameet’s official hashtag (#wwim10).

A WIN-WIN SITUATION

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a travel player without an Instagram account these days. And don’t think it’s only mega hotel chains or big travel companies which boast a large number of followers and influencers.

Boutique booking site The Luxe Nomad, which started life in June 2012, went on Instagram last year. It now has 65,000 followers — outpacing companies such as Expedia, Booking.com and Agoda, and making their account the most successful among online travel agencies.

“We saw the huge potential of the social media channel and decided to make it a priority to build upon. We posted four or five times a day (in the beginning),” revealed its founder Stephanie Chai.

“One upside of being a start-up such as ourselves is our ability to move quickly and make the rules up as we go. I felt what was lacking in the travel space was personality, so with TheLuxeNomad.com we created a voice — your in-the-know travel friend with a dry sense of humour.”

Chai cited examples of The Luxe Nomad’s flexibility — from introducing group payment features to split the hotel bill to injecting 14-second videos of its properties into its Instagram. Moreover, as a former model, Chai has tapped her celebrity influencer friends such as Godfrey Gao to tag The Luxe Nomad to further boost awareness. Chai’s shrewd use of the platform has certainly paid off — a survey she did revealed that 30 per cent of the people who booked during a sale found out about it via Instagram.

Perhaps that’s a sign of things to come — when one can book a holiday or hotel immediately on Instagram.

Dear Instagram, do let us know when that’s possible?