Overtourism & The White Lotus
Diving into "The White Lotus effect" and how to rethink intentional set-jetting.
Maui, Sicily and now Koh Samui… The White Lotus has done it again — monopolizing headlines of pop culture and influencing travel to its filming location.
Since the show’s season 3 Thai location was announced, Hotels.com saw a 40 percent increase in searches for the Four Seasons Koh Samui. And since the season 3 premiere, Skiplagged data shows that searches to Krabi, Thailand are up 50 percent compared to last year and searches to Phuket are up 20 percent (even though they’re on the opposite coast of Koh Samui).
I think it’s interesting how the show continues to drive attention to destinations that don’t necessarily struggle with popularity. In fact, the trio of locations thus far have previously struggled with overtourism:
Maui
Sicily
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Thailand
A vicious cycle
We’re all guilty of it; booking a vacation based off a destination that appears enticing from our favorite shows has become so mainstream that there’s a term for it — set-jetting.
This trend is nothing new, and The White Lotus is only one example of the big screen propelling a destination into the spotlight, like The Lord of The Rings’ boost for the dramatic landscapes of New Zealand or Game of Thrones and its extensive shooting in medieval Dubrovnik, Croatia.
At first, I thought: why can’t these producers choose lesser visited regions to help drive up their tourism? Then, after some more noodling, I began questioning whether The White Lotus producers are irresponsible or actually savvy when it comes to choosing well-established tourism locales?
Due to the historic influx of attention that filming locations can have on one region, it would seem that a lesser developed area might struggle with such a sudden increase in tourism following a show or film’s premiere. It would, then, seem irresponsible for a show to knowingly set up shop off-the-beaten path unless they had some intentions to support the accommodation of future visitors.
So then, what’s the solution?
The easiest answer would be for humans to not be so impressionistic, but since this is sincerely unrealistic, perhaps it’s easier to encourage intentionality about how and where we spend our vacation dollars.
In direct relation to The White Lotus, I do think the show could do a better job at scouting locations with perhaps less of a record of overtourism. To quote an excerpt from Thailand Business News for additional insight:
Thailand faces a tourism distribution problem, with certain regions experiencing overtourism. Koh Samui, for instance, is already facing significant pressure, with luxury hotels, private pool villas, and restaurants straining water and waste management systems, which are either undersized or nonexistent. The pipeline connecting the island to the mainland supplies only 21,000 cubic meters of water per day, forcing locals to buy more expensive water from private companies. The island’s incinerator has been out of service for over a decade, leading to an open landfill that emits strong odors and pollutes local water, forcing residents to invest in water purifiers. Water consumption for tourism-related activities has also depleted the island’s resources.
A final note
I don’t want this to read like I’m discouraging anyone from traveling to Thailand — in fact, it’s quite the opposite as the country is a beautiful assemblage that deserves a thoughtful itinerary to experience its vast offerings from islands to inland.
What I really want to encourage is reconsidering why you want to visit the country. If it’s to snap a photo at the beachfront villa where Victoria Ratliff (Parker Posey) witnessed her lucid dream sequence, maybe you shouldn't fly halfway around the world for it.
But, if you’re drawn to the prevalent themes of her daughter Piper’s (Sarah Catherine Hook) spiritual, meditation and well-being journey, then absolutely you should recreate your own venture, here.
This applies to any scene on the big screen.
If something greater about the set’s destination is calling to you, spend time researching why exactly you want to visit to learn if it’s really the best trip for you.
From there, if you’re interested in combating overtourism, look into the hotel’s environmental and societal footprint, about sites that are overrun and tourism practices that are hurting rather than helping the local economy. Research sites or organizations that are overlooked and may actually benefit from your dollar.
Further, if you have flexibility, align a trip during shoulder season when the infrastructure is less stressed.
More thoughtful set-jetting can help break the vicious cycle of overwhelming surges that are eventually followed by a dramatic decrease in numbers that also causes its own slew of issues.
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