In April of this 12 months, I made a final minute choice to journey to Southeast Asia with my boyfriend for 2 months.
It’s a clichéd story. I used to be being evicted from my home in Dublin, I couldn’t discover anyplace inexpensive to hire, and metropolis dwelling was sporting me down. We deliberate the whole lot in three weeks — vaccines, flights, our first 5 nights in Hanoi — and took off on an Etihad jet to Vietnam.
With little time to plan our journey, and no expertise of Asia (in my case), we reverted to TikTok to get a grasp of what our travels may seem like.
My algorithm tuned in virtually as quickly as I watched that first video. Suddenly, I used to be flooded with TikTokkers sharing their suggestions of the very best place to purchase a rain jacket for the Ha Giang Loop bike tour, and the highest nail salons in Da Nang (Ciao Nail Studio in case you’re trying). We had been by no means caught for concepts or recommendation, however one thing about planning an itinerary totally by means of TikTok didn’t sit proper with me.
For my mother and father, travelling was a real journey. Sure, there have been journey exhibits on tv, however they principally went on vacation not realizing what experiences had been across the nook. TikTok could be a useful gizmo to get a grasp on someplace you’ve by no means been, however there’s one thing to be mentioned for going someplace with a completely recent perspective.
Does TikTok take away from the sense of journey that we’re searching for once we journey? Is it homogenising journey and experiences of locations far-off from our personal lived actuality?
Creator Aoibh Carroll spent 4 months of this 12 months travelling throughout Asia together with her girlfriend. Her journey content material has at all times been lifestyle-heavy — sharing meals, resort stays, and the locations she’s going.
Content creator Aoibh Carroll in Vietnam
Budget is a significant factor, and the purpose of her content material is to point out off issues to do with out breaking the financial institution.
“My travel is always very realistic, but I do kind of find myself seeking out different things that are popular in the destination I’m in,” she says.
But as somebody who creates content material, her expertise of utilizing TikTok for planning left her with a conclusion much like my very own.
“I’m embarrassed to admit that TikTok plays such a huge role, especially in Asia,” she says. “You realise that everybody’s watching the same videos and going to the same places.
“I still look on booking websites and find something that’s in my budget, and I’ll look on TikTok alongside it as a visual aid. I kind of use it as a way to review places, but obviously you can’t trust everyone’s opinion, and everyone’s experience is different.
Unfortunately, we’re all prone to following the trends,” she continues. “We’re all doing the Ha Giang Loop when we go to Vietnam because it’s popular on social media.” (Guilty as charged.)
Tourism Ireland’s newest abroad sentiment analysis exhibits that 23% [of potential visitors] are actually influenced by social media, with 7% attributing their analysis and planning to influencers and content material creators.
Sinéad Grace, head of company and business communications for Tourism Ireland explains that “visual channels such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest play a big role in inspiring audiences to consider Ireland as a holiday destination — where they can see people they consider to be like themselves enjoying a holiday here.”
This shift in angle could be seen by means of our personal lives.
Aoibh notes that “we used to watch documentaries and go to tourist information centres, and now because we have all of that content on demand, we’re becoming lazy in our explorations. We’re not as curious about our travels as we used to be.”
Content creator Sarah Kelly, AKA Tinyboots Travels, has observed that the recognition of sure forms of getaways has led to numerous locations adopting a homogenised look.
“I’ve seen and been to multiple glamping sites which have the exact same glamping pods,” she says. “The scenery is different, but the glamping pods are exactly the same.”
And on the subject of the impression of overexposure on beforehand quiet spots, Sarah mentions with some guilt that as her following grows, management over who visits these locations wanes.
“They might go somewhere because it looks nice, but they might not care about the environment or appreciating or protecting the land in Ireland.”
For some areas, heritage transcends time. Dromoland Castle was as soon as the stronghold and ancestral residence of the O’Brien household — a lineage that traces again to Brian Boru — and now embraces social media as a solution to attain new audiences.
Dromoland Castle, Newmarket on Fergus, County Clare
“For us, heritage isn’t about standing still. It is about finding new ways to tell those stories so that they continue to intrigue a modern audience,” shares Gráinne O’Rourke, resort advertising and marketing supervisor for the resort.
“In the early days, booking a stay meant picking up the telephone and speaking directly to the hotel. That evolved into email, then online booking engines,” she says.
Heritage and storytelling turn out to be extremely worthwhile in a world the place a spot solely actually turns into “viral” as soon as there’s one thing value speaking about.
“Social media doesn’t create magic, and we don’t need to invent a reason for people to be interested. We have centuries of stories, characters, architecture, landscape, and experiences to draw from.”
Gráinne tells the story of how porters John and Mike O’Connor, who’ve been with the fort for 50 years, went viral on TikTok, gaining over half one million views.
“It wasn’t scripted or overly planned, but the natural characters of the two men shone through,” she says.
Aileen Eglington, a communications guide who has been working within the journey business for over 20 years, provides the attitude that though issues are altering, journey brokers are nonetheless an vital a part of the journey for a lot of Irish individuals.
“I think that you should never go away from the travel agents in terms of their knowledge for specific things,” Aileen says.
Knowledge and expertise is a part of the job, so brokers are versed in the place to advocate for an individual or a household’s wants.
A important level that Aileen makes — and one which I had little concern for whereas on the again of a stranger’s bike within the Vietnamese mountains — is that security is constructed into the bundle when reserving by means of an company.
“People are going with G Adventures. They’re going with Sunway,” she says, explaining that “they’re going with various things like that because they want maybe soft adventure or they want experiences. They’re prepared to pay for them, but they’re also prepared to pay for them in a safer environment.”
Aileen recollects a current journey to Verona with Marty Whelan and the Institute for Culture Travel, the place he placed on a dwell present from the Arena di Verona to advertise their opera pageant.
The RTÉ Lyric FM presenter posted content material from Verona on his Instagram sharing the whole lot from his salted pistachio ice-cream from a small Italian retailer to the cypress bushes of Giardino Giusti.
“Marty Whelan, to me, is the ultimate cultural influencer,” she laughs. If Italy wasn’t on the bucket listing earlier than, one take a look at his Instagram would persuade you in any other case.
Marty Whelan in Italy
While suggestions flood our algorithms the second it will get a touch that we’re planning to go to someplace, the worth of talking to individuals who have expertise of a spot can’t be understated. TikTok and by extension, Instagram, are helpful instruments, however even those that work within the business of making advice content material for others, discover the repeat suggestions, and homogeny of ‘viral’ stays typically don’t equal the unique expertise that journey used to carry.
There’s nonetheless an argument to be made for watching some old fashioned journey exhibits, exploring with no expectations, and studying a factor or two from the locals.