‘Fancy coming over for a coffee? I can show you the photos from my last holiday!’ In times when our daily lives were still largely analogue we used to say this kind of things, right? Today, we document our travels digitally and post the photos on social networks like Instagram. Also, we no longer ask if anyone even wants to see our best holiday moments. This evolution of our habits has become a trend that has put the tourism sector worldwide upside down: it’s called Instagram tourism.
What is Instagram tourism?
In neutral terms, we can define Instagram tourism as the following: Tourists who travel to often quite remote or little-known places, capturing their discoveries in the form of photos or videos and sharing them on social media. As a result, these places are becoming more and more popular, which means that more and more travellers come along to take the same photo for their own feed. In these cases, the trip is no longer so much about the experience itself. It’s about the photo or video that is then shared on Instagram & Co.
In fact, more and more travellers are becoming self-proclaimed or elected tour guides. They share their holiday memories in the form of idyllic photos on Instagram (and other platforms), often posting remote corners of nature as well as sights in cities. Apparently, according to the photos you can enjoy them undisturbed. Peace, relaxation, free time. These and similar descriptions often go along with the posts. As well as details of the place and how to get to the dream setting.
The authors of digital travel tips are often influencers. Personalities who have a large number of followers and reach readers all over the world with their posts. As the name suggests, their opinion is in demand and worth a lot. So much so that they are now commissioned by many tourist destinations to report on excursion destinations and thus attract more visitors. Instagram tourism has practically become its own advertising channel.
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
What are the advantages of social media for the tourism sector?
So far, so good. Like so many digital developments, this new trend seems to bring many advantages. Authentic reviews from real and (theoretically) neutral people about places, nature parks, restaurants, etc. ultimately guarantee more visitors. Not only in well known places but also in rather isolated destinations that would otherwise not even appear on the radar of many tourists. Ideally, this also guarantees an economic upturn in these places, as more people also means more customers in shops, accommodation, restaurants, bars or cafés. And that, in turn, creates more jobs. Tourism organisations have the opportunity to direct the flow of visitors in a targeted way. How? Part of their marketing strategy is to commission influential people to report on places that could do with a little boost. Sounds great in theory, doesn’t it?
Negative consequences of Instagram tourism
However, the reality is often very different. Like so many things on the World Wide Web, the reach of Instagram tourism is quite difficult to control. That makes the snowball effect overwhelming in many places. Influencers, or those inspired to become influencers, not only post about certain places on demand. The problem is that they also post unsolicitedly about hidden gems that some prefer to keep to themselves.
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash
Unfortunately, the negative consequences of this new type of tourism are hard to ignore. Especially in natural areas and natural monuments, as in the photo above. For example, when photos show deserted beaches, the reality often shows the exact opposite. Is the traveller really sitting alone in front of this impressive rock in Thailand, for example? In most cases, in the background you see a long queue of Instagramers waiting for their turn.
Hidden corners in the mountains, forests, at lakes or elsewhere in nature, which were once very idyllic, are now visited by floods of visitors. That makes the trend of Instagram tourism unbearable in many places. In nature reserves, people often ignore trails that serve to preserve flora and fauna, which becomes an issue when it’s not a few traveller per day anymore. The same goes for the waste they leave wherever they go. And of course noise nuisance and increased traffic are becoming an increasing problem as well, considering the masses of tourists. Many travellers do not respect the environment or locals. Other than that, there is often no capacity for the growing number of visitors and usually only a few benefit from this type of tourism. Instead of enjoying the place and the environment and consuming locally, many Instagrammers just come to take a picture. Afterwards they simply leave.
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
As places featured on social media become increasingly popular, the cost of living there often increases. That, understandably, causes resentment among local residents. In the end, they are rarely the ones who benefit from the extreme flood of visitors. What is the result? The atmosphere changes, visitors are less welcome and, in some cases, residents are even forced to look for somewhere else to live. In addition to that, they can no longer even enjoy their ‘secret corners’. This is not only the case in the countryside, but also in cities such as Venice or Amsterdam. More and more destinations are being forced to completely close off access to nature reserves or characteristic spots. Others charge admission to the most popular locations in an attempt to control the number of visitors.
Amsterdam, for example, has restricted the maximum number of tourist overnight stays per year. The Berchtesgaden National Park in Germany, with its wonderful waterfall and natural pools, had to close for the first time since its creation in 1978. The same goes for the Everest base camp. The Chinese government decided to close it back in 2019 to clean up the eight tonnes of rubbish that have accumulated there due to the increasing number of visitors.
Are there ways to face those problems?
As mentioned above, there are many grey areas in the digital environment and difficulties in counteracting certain trends. Especially as we spread information nowadays without borders in a very short space of time. We can see this in digital trends such as deepfakes, which have become increasingly common since the era of artificial intelligence accessible to all. Also challenges that exist with tools such as ChatGPT and the issue of copyright are part of this tendency.
Instagram Tourism is also a phenomenon that is most likely here to stay. As more and more businesses in the tourism sector turn to this channel to promote themselves, it is even difficult to ignore. However, given that it offers opportunities as well as challenges, that may not be necessary. Firstly, it is important that the relevant institutions are committed to a sustainable tourism model. According to the UN, sustainable tourism is tourism that ‘takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities’ based on three basic principles:
- Ecologically sustainable
- Ethical, socially just and culturally appropriate
- Economically viable and productive
Apart from the relevant framework conditions on site, it goes without saying that we have to make an effort to raise awareness and educate travellers. This is probably the biggest challenge. If we want to continue to enjoy all the wonderful places on this planet, it is up to us to preserve them by taking responsibility for our actions.
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