Tourist traps

We are approaching the end of the winter holiday season. As Europe cools and the snow melts at Thredbo, everyone’s coming crawling back to Sydney’s unique Spring combination of humidity and wind.

Many tourist destinations will be breathing a sigh of relief.

In the idyllic Cotswold village of Bibury, the local council asked tourists to use "a smaller vehicle" to visit, as coachloads of happy snappers blocked roads and even impacted house prices.

In Italy, local farmers have put up turnstiles and are charging 5 euros to access ‘Instagrammable’ spots. Unfortunately, in a near perfect example of the Streisand effect, this has apparently alerted even more people to these landmarks, exacerbating the problem. 

It would be easy to blame all of this on travel influencers. So let’s.

Research from Expedia Group found that 73% of tourists say influencer recommendations have led to booking decisions. For many locations, this is an economic boon, but there’s also plenty of downsides.

Travel vloggers Britt and Tim Cromie recently found themselves in hot water after posting culturally sensitive sites around Uluru without a permit.

But surely the greatest concern in this space is the increasing number of influencers travelling to, and promoting, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. 

Take Zoe Stephens, a British travel vlogger and tour guide. She has over 70,000 followers on Instagram, sharing such fascinating insights as “the strength of the Afghan women is that they don’t have to just show it.” Ignoring entirely that they are also absolutely not allowed to.

Some influencer recommendations are great, and 5 euros for the Dolomites is a bargain. But maybe don’t promote Afghanistan.