Two days ago, a friend of mine just booked travel to Bali because she liked that dreamy beach look on she saw on Instagram. Another friend has been saving money for months to go to Santorini, Greece as it looks amazing on his favorite travel influencer’s feed. I bet you know someone like that, springing into adventure purely because of pretty travel inspiration photos on social media. But beware, those beautiful pictures are not as innocent as they look. In this 2 part mini-series, we will discover how Instagram ascended to the throne in the field of tourism marketing, and how it can be a deadly poison for holiday destinations and tourists alike.
Figure 1: Tourists take selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Photographer: Vanni Bassetti/Getty Images. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-27/delta-air-sees-instagram-photo-quest-stoking-demand-for-flights
Rise of “Instagramable” tourism destinations
These days, it is hard to imagine traveling without taking pictures, a culture in which Instagram plays a huge role. The phenomenon of “going places for the ‘gram’” has been overwhelming among Millennials (Jabour, 2019). With that, rise the picturesque, Insta-worthy places that have been unknown before. Ever heard of Chichibuga beach in Japan, or Lake Wanaka in New Zealand? If you have not, don’t be surprised. Those are the typical spots that have become viral in recent years. Thousands of people (or dozens of thousands, in the case of Chichibuga) are queuing at these places for a perfect shot (Jabour, 2019).
And of course, we cannot discuss Instagram destinations without mentioning Bali, Indonesia. Home to the pristine beaches and the famous Bali Swing that is featured so often on social media, but Bali’s most recognizable attraction is the Lempuyang temple complex, nicknamed “Gates of Heaven”. According to Konstantinides (2019), the Instagram hashtag #GatesofHeaven has accumulated over 15,000 photos of identical scenery. People standing between two spectacular monoliths and their reflections shown in the perfectly clear water below (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Instagram photo under hashtag #GatesofHeaven, Bali, Indonesia. Instagram. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/B8bQCGtgcj5/
Instagram is now reckoned as an almost unstoppable force. In 2017, after only 6 years on running, it had gained more than 500 million active users, sharing an average of 80 million photos a day. As people engage on Instagram 10 times as much as they do on Facebook, the platform is a gold mine for tourism marketers (Miller, 2017).
Why the Social Media craze among travelers?
It might be hard for someone who is not active on Instagram to understand why Instagram-influenced traveling is all the craze right now. In fact, Instagram travel photos are everywhere, and as seemingly unreal as they are, they now serve as one of the biggest motivations for Millennials to take journeys. Up to 40% of travelers under 33 will prioritize the “Instagramable” aspect when planning their trip, according to a study by Schofield, a UK holiday rental home insurance company (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Key factors in destination choice among Millennials (Age 18-33) (Hayhurst, 2017). Travolution. Retrieved from http://www.travolution.com/articles/102216/survey-highlights-instagram-as-key-factor-in-destination-choice-among-millennials
In my humble guess, there might be two main reasons for it. Miller (2017) remarked that contemporary society has a big appetite for imagery, and it is a significant factor affecting our travel decisions. This leads to young people actively seeking travel inspirations on social media, where alluring visuals are abundant. Then there is also the underlying competitiveness regarding social media appearance. People put in exaggerated efforts to look like they are constantly living the best of their life, and it becomes a matter of rivalry between friends and acquaintances (Arnold, 2018). Thus, they would naturally prefer destinations that produce eye-catching, exotic pictures for Instagram posts. In essence, people find great interest in looking at beautiful photos on social media as well as posting beautiful photos to compete with others.
So far Instagram has been a huge tool for travelers searching inspirations and a rich land for marketers to harvest. What could possibly go wrong from it? Part 2 of this mini-series will answer the question: Is Instagram a Disease for Tourism?
References:
Arnold, A. (2018). Is Social Media Creating Unrealistic Travel Expectations Among Millennials? Forbes. [online]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewarnold/2018/06/16/is-social-media-creating-unrealistic-travel-expectations-among-millennials/#3777ef3a1d4f
Hayhurst, L. (2017). Survey highlights Instagram as key factor in destination choice among millennials. Travolution. [online]. Retrieved from http://www.travolution.com/articles/102216/survey-highlights-instagram-as-key-factor-in-destination-choice-among-millennials
Jabour, B. (2019). Is Instagram ruining travel? The short answer is it’s a bit hysterical. The Guardian. [online]. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/10/is-instagram-ruining-travel-the-short-answer-is-its-a-bit-hysterical#img-1
Konstantinides, A. (2019). Visitors have discovered that a Bali tourist attraction popular with Instagram influencers is actually a fake photo op. Insider. [online]. Retrieved from https://www.insider.com/bali-tourist-spot-popular-instagram-fake-photo-op-2019-7
Miller, C. (2017). How Instagram Is Changing Travel. National Geographic. [online]. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/travel-interests/arts-and-culture/how-instagram-is-changing-travel/
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