TRAVEL DESTINATION INFLUENCERS

You may be choosing destinations by discussing with your friends or getting inspired by their Instagram pictures but do you know that there are people out there who are making a living out of this? Yes, they are professional Destination Influencers, regularly employed by governments and travel agencies, whose job is to sell to you the idea that there is more to tourism in Saudi Arabia than the regular Haj pilgrimage!

For travellers the social media platform can be an invaluable tool. You can meet people through Instagram. You can be inspired by Instagram. You can research destinations, you can find new places, you can discover great food, explore amazing locations and pick up priceless local tips all through that little app on your phone. And these Destination Influencers are all over the social media with their catchy travelogues, luring you to visit the place of their client’s interest!

So who are these guys? The top ten Instagrammers who are in this business are:

·         Murad Osmann – 4.2M Followers. ...

·         Chris Burkard – 3.3M Followers. ...

·         Jack Morris – 2.8M Followers. ...

·         Jennifer Tuffen – 2.7M Followers. ...

·         Jessica Stein – 2.5M Followers. ...

·         The Bucket List Family – 1.6M Followers. ...

·         Louis Cole – 1.4M Followers. ...

·         Tara Whiteman – 1.2M Followers.

These professionals have changed the game of choosing travel destinations. I do a lot of my travel research over Instagram, sometimes consciously, sometimes completely organically. I've been inspired to travel to places I'd never even heard of thanks to the people I follow on social media. I've been encouraged to try new food, to take chances on strange places, to just get out there and explore and discover and marvel.

Who are Destination Influencers?

You know influencers, even if you don't think you do. Anyone you follow who has, say, more than 10,000 followers is an influencer. In travel, that means someone who is encouraging a wide audience to go to certain places and do certain things. Their sites / blogs are free-for-all and they are always telling you which are the ideal destinations for the powerful and the popular, the beautiful and the talented. Now would you deny that you are one of them!

Instagram users trust influencers, which is a big part of their appeal. There's an organic feel to your social feed that makes you think you're talking to a friend, even if you're following some A-lister celebrity with a million followers who has no idea who you are. You take influencers at face value. There's no cynicism. No mistrust. These are just real people.

If you follow someone like Tara Whiteman (@taramilktea – 1.3 million followers), or Gab Scanu (@gabscanu – 363,000), you might have noticed that exact scenario on your feed recently. The Australian duo are two of multiple influencers who have recently been paid by the Saudi government to travel to the country, take photos and say nice things about it. In fairness to Tara Whiteman, she labels her posts "#sponsored", so you at least know someone else is paying. Gab Scanu does not. There's no obligation to own up to payments like this, either, which is why you would probably – or, even better, might not have – noticed particular brands and destinations lately appearing, for no discernible reason, in the feeds of popular accounts that you trust.

These are advertisements, that very same as billboards on the streets or pop-ups on your browser. It's just that on Instagram they're delivered by people you rely on in a voice you recognize.

My issues with Destination Influencers

I do not have a problem with someone using his/her talents to help other travelers and in the process earning a livelihood. My issues are two. The first is that their suggestions do not come with disclaimers and warnings. They are usually sugar and spice and everything nice. Is Saudi Arabia a country that really deserves your hard earned money? Are its people being treated humanely? What is life like for women in Saudi Arabia? What's happening to, say, Loujain al-Hathloul, one of multiple activists who remain in prison in Saudi Arabia right now for the crime of campaigning for women's rights? What is happening about the murderers of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, journalist for The Washington Post and former general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel? Is advertising travel destinations for them ethical?

Another problemI have with destination influencers is over-tourism of certain destinations to the point of their destruction. Instagram has always been a great place to find travel inspiration, displaying photos of hidden paradises around the world. But once Instagram photos attract enough attention, the locations that get geo-tagged can be overrun by tourists trying to snap similar shots. This results in overcrowding, gridlock, environmental damages, and more, thanks to unwelcome Instagram fame. So whether it is Rialto Bridge in Venice, or Jackson Hole in Wyoming, U.S, or Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon in Iceland, or Rue Crémieux in Paris, or lavender farm in Surrey, England, or mountain pass of Trollstigen in Norway or even Mount Everest in Nepal, travel influencers have done a lot of disservice to them much to the discontent of the local residents.

Traditional travel media is not exactly perfect in this respect. Writers accept free trips from the tourism boards of various countries around the world all the time. They write travel stories about these countries, and post photos and anecdotes to their social media accounts. But, there are a few differences though. Writers for mainstream media organisations always declare any interest from a third party up front ("The writer travelled as a guest of the Tourism Authority of Thailand" etc). While regular travel journalists make our living from selling stories, influencers tend to be paid in a direct sponsorship arrangement. So the regular reporters have a greater degree of freedom to write what they see and what they feel.

Remember, travel destination influencers cannot replace your own friends. Nor can they replace the regular travel reporters. They're business people making a living from advertising. Sometimes they'll give you sound advice, and sometimes they'll lead you astray. It's worth remembering though that if everything they photograph and write seems too good to be true – it probably is. I read them but always cross check with my friends before planning a trip.