INSTAGRAM tourism, and the use of influencers as a travel marketing strategy can, at best, produce very limited results and, at worst, backfire. George Argyropoulos, ceo of Cruises International, says the company experimented with a number of influencers last year but found that the vast majority did not produce much return on investment in the South African market.
“Their focus often seemed to be more about promoting themselves than the brand that was sponsoring them. While many posted while on board, we saw little postcruise follow through. I am, as a result, of the opinion that the term ‘influencer’ is often abused by individuals looking for free experiences. We did identify
a couple of individuals that we are very happy to continue our relationship with though,” said George. Even more seriously, Instagram tourism has led to clampdowns in Thailand and the US. Mai Khao beach near Phuket International Airport, has grown in popularity after becoming an ‘Insta’ destination. Visitors have been flocking to the beach – where aircraft can be seen flying low overhead – in order to take selfies of themselves with the landing aircraft. Phuket International Airport is clamping down on the practice, saying that the photographers are distracting pilots. Phuket airport chief, Wichit Kaeothaithiam told media that a new safety zone near the runway was being developed and would soon take effect. He said violators would be subject to punishments under the Air Navigation Act. The maximum penalty would be the death sentence. But Phuket locals feel that the move will impact tourism in the area: “If the beach is closed, we will have serious problems because many tourists simply will not come,” Winai Sae-io, head of a local
entrepreneurial stimulus programme told The Phuket News. Concurrently in the US, the National Parks Service (NPS) is clamping down on unlawful environmental violations fuelled by irresponsible influencers and Insta tourism. Kathy Kupers, a spokesperson for the NPS told The Guardian: “Illegal activities posted by individuals on social media platforms have led to investigations and prosecutions by law enforcement.” Photographer Elisabeth Brentano founded a petition last year that has collected over 19 000 signatures. It calls for Instagram and
Facebook to implement a system allowing users to report violations that are both illegal and harmful to the environment. The petition states: “When individuals use Instagram to publicly post photos and videos of themselves breaking the law and engaging in activities that are harmful to the environment, there is seldom any legal recourse. Worse yet, when shared by larger accounts, publishers or brands, this content has the potential to reach millions of people. Without any sort of regulation, it is impossible to stop the spread of media that might encourage other Instagram users to engage in similar
illegal and damaging behaviour.” An anonymous Intagrammer has started an account called Public Lands Hate You in which the account holder shames influencers depicting irresponsible behaviour such as flowerpicking, starting fires or photoshopping images of themselves into dangerous situations in iconic sites. This was in response to events such as one in California when a super bloom of spring flowers resulted in an influencer-led explosion of selfie-taking tourists trampling the plants in an effort to photograph themselves frolicking in the fields of wildflowers.
