Why you'll never see me recommending ‘The Most Instagrammable Spots’
Social Media and Sustainability
We all like to see beautiful places, don’t we?
It is one of the countless reasons that we travel this wonderful world, and for many of us, discovering unique and stunning locations is a fairly important factor in our trip.
After all, we live in a visual world, and we all know that driving down that winding road with the breath-taking mountain backdrop or admiring the colourful cliff-edged Amalfi coast from the glittering med can be powerfully emotive.
But with the rise of social media, not only has the desire to find these stunning spots risen, but so has the desire to share them. And this is where things can get a little complicated.
Social Media and Overtourism
With the explosion of viral reels, aspirational influencers, and the new craze of geotagging, some of the world’s most attractive and often remote places are experiencing an influx of tourism that they just can’t handle.
As well as overloading destinations without the necessary tourist infrastructure, traditions are commonly being disrespected, and the situation is spiralling to a crucial moment that many are beginning to tire of. Sadly, locals lives are being affected, and in some cases, the environment too.
From the now infamous Pura Lempuyang, a Hindu temple in Bali where tourists queue endlessly to take a photo with a fake body of water in front (created by the surface of an iPhone), to the story of a poor shepherd in the Faroe Islands who has to check for tourists waiting to pap his photogenic house each time he uses the bathroom, it’s evident that our quest for impressive photos is actually becoming unfulfilling, unsustainable, and even unethical.
Unfulfilling: Instagram vs Reality
You’ll often see this popular phrase across captions and reels, but it is also a key talking point on the subject of Instagrammable spots. We ask: Where exactly do the lines blur between Instagram and reality? And are these spots causing unnecessary disappointment on our long-awaited vacations?
Undoubtedly, in the quest for Instagram engagement, it seems that the situation is turning from minor to drastic. What began with colour-adjusting filters has developed into people faking entire photos. And while some will visit locations at obscure hours to take crowd-free photos, others will take outfit changes, such as long flowing dresses, to change into at the top of a mountain. Now who is to question those that are prepared to get up extra early to take photos in peace, or those that choose to snap themselves in a ball gown after a treacherous hike?
The question is: What effect is this having on our travel experiences? And how do we avoid situations where our expectations actually surpass the experience, and we therefore find ourselves deflated and frustrated on our travels rather than inspired? Reviews of popular spots across the internet are beginning to paint a bleaker picture than we imagined. And in an increasingly fabricated world, it seems that many of us are now actually craving reality as strongly as we are craving fulfilment.
Unsustainable: The Instagram effect
Instagram can be a great source of education, information, and tips, and you can certainly learn a thing or two about responsible travel on the platform if you choose to do so. Though evident in some styles of use, it can equally be one of the greatest enemies of the quest for sustainability.
With so much of the world desperate to reap the rewards of tourism, what sense does it have for us all to visit the very same spots? And to spend our free time queuing for a repetitive photo, rather than exploring the local areas and culture and supporting local businesses? What effects are these overtourism issues actually having on the locals and the environment?
This article on France24.com reports ‘overflowing rubbish bins, hollowed-out hiking trails from so much foot traffic, and more frequent landslides’ as just a few of the problems they were facing at the cliffs of Étretat in Normandy.
And here National Geographic tells us how ‘locals in the charming Austrian lakeside village of Hallstatt staged a blockade of the main access tunnel, brandishing placards asking visitors to ‘think of the children’’, after their small village of 800 residents has received up to 10,000 tourists per day. Reports like that are just two examples of the devastating damage that overtourism is inflicting on both the environment and local communities.
Unethical: The impact of Instagrammable Spots
Trying to keep up with Instagram expectations is also adding a huge amount of pressure locally. From whale sharks facing injuries from boat propellors in Cebu due to being hand-fed for photo ops, to locals being manipulated into certain poses by tourists wanting to grab that perfect (ironically, authentic) shot, it appears once again that meeting the demands of tourism in some places these days is creating a facade that cannot be maintained.
Immoral behaviours of tourists are also leaving their mark in many places around the world, with scattered rubbish, disrespectful acts, and fly-by hotspot visits without a thought for the local culture, nor any economic value brought.
Abandoned tents, oxygen masks, and human waste are wreaking havoc on Mount Everest and could even affect local communities drinking water, and beaches around the world are littered with cigarette butts, plastic glasses and food containers, both of which take an incredible amount of local effort to clear up. A costly, draining, and totally unnecessary mission if only tourists would only clear their own waste rather than littering local environments.
So is over-tourism Instagrams fault? And where do we go from here?
Do I believe Instagram is to blame for overtourism? No. But I do believe the way that we are using it is one of the biggest contributors in current times.
Should we then blame the elegant dress wearers at the top of the mountains? No, the problem is far more complex than that, and we certainly can’t pin it on one Instagram trend.
Many believe that responsibility lies with both worldwide governments and individual travellers and that it will take commitments from both to improve this pressing issue that we are facing.
So what can we do as individual travellers?
I believe these are some things that we can consider:
Responsible recommendations: As a travel designer, a huge part of my work is promoting destinations and experiences, so I recognise my part in this Instagram challenge. Do I recommend beautiful places? Yes, I do. But the reason that I say I won’t recommend ‘Instagrammable places’ is because I don’t want to encourage travellers travelling anywhere just to take photos. This is a highly unsustainable and often unfulfilling practice, both for the traveller and the locals. I also think we should take extreme care in geotagging and recommending travel to spots that are already receiving unsustainable levels of tourism, especially with their current infrastructure.
Travel with intention: Those of us able to travel the world are extremely privileged. I believe that if we consider our responsibility for care and intention when travelling, we can ensure that our experiences are positively impactful, not just for us but for the places and people that we visit. E.G. Responsibility of care: choosing responsible experience providers that bring benefits for locals. Responsibility of intention: ensuring that you are travelling to your chosen destination for the actual experience rather than social media gratification.
Slow Travel: A slower travel style may not always fit requirements or desires, but when we can slow our pace down, this often results in more quality time (and money) spent in the destination that we are exploring. Visiting Petra, for example? Rather than hitting this hugely popular site and whizzing off to another country, why not explore Jordan in more depth? Taking a longer route to the famous archaeological site while also benefitting smaller, local businesses and communities along the way.
Switch up seasons and places: If we consider travelling to destinations in quieter times, not only will we benefit the destination, but we may also find the experience more enjoyable ourselves. I know many travellers stick to low-season travel exactly for these reasons. And what about travelling a little more creatively? Our world is full of wonderful places to explore, so whether this means varying your itinerary to include some lesser-visited spots or choosing a new destination entirely, it’s unlikely that you’ll regret strolling a little further off the beaten track.
Did you know that 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual?
In 2023, with 4.8 billion of us using social media, it’s no surprise that apps like Instagram are influencing our travel habits.
But there are growing concerns that the use of these apps is creating a hype that is harmful for travellers, destinations, and locals alike.
I do not believe the answer, however, is to blame Instagram or the people who dress up to take special shots. After all, it’s what’s been happening in magazines for years. I do believe, however, that we need to ask ourselves: Are our lives becoming one big editorial?
I am also not suggesting scrapping plans to visit that place you’ve dreamed about on Instagram. But I am insisting that we think more about our intentions. Are you travelling to understand the culture more deeply? To marvel at the beauty of the country and enjoy the fun that it has to offer? Or do you want to spend hours of your precious holiday in a photo queue?
After all, does that photo really matter?
An honest, personal reflection: My journey with Instagram
As somebody who loves photography, it may be surprising to know that I barely used Instagram before starting my business account. I had initially thought to start sharing my 6-month backpacking adventure on the platform back in 2014, but at that time I quickly wrote the app off as narcissistic and decided that I wanted to be fully present in the moment on my travels instead. It wasn’t until 2018 that I decided to dip back in again and share a few personal snaps before eventually launching my business page in 2020.
I’ll be honest, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the platform. But after many periods of frustration for the lack of visibility and many more periods of completely abandoning it for a month or more, I’m finally truly seeing its value and posting consistency (for now anyway!).
The reason for the change? I’ve accepted that Instagram is a complicated machine, and instead I focus on its value, which for me I would summarise mainly as connecting with wonderful, like-minded people and discovering new travel inspiration.
As a visual learner and a huge lover of art and design, these days, I really do enjoy Instagram (in small doses!). And although I do typical photo edits (colour adjustment and exposure, for example), I am dedicated to ensuring that I use them as responsibly as possible. I feel very strongly about making sure photos are realistic and would therefore never adjust body shapes or fake photos. I also personally don’t take any outfit changes or currently get up extra early or head to spots at certain times to take photos (though sometimes I wish I had for the latter!). Authenticity really is at the core of what I do, and I try to reflect this in my content as much as possible.
Finally, I’d like to stress that, as much as I deeply enjoy taking photos and making videos, I strongly believe that a great photo should be a reminder of an amazing experience and never the reason to go.
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