How a Destination Goes Viral

Executive Producer: Tom Grahsler
Senior Producer: Michael Olcott
Producer: Michaela Winberg
Associate Producer: Bibiana Correa
Editor: Meg Driscoll
Original Music: Catherine Anderson
Mixing and Sound Design: Emma Munger
Engineers: Al Banks, Charlie Kaier, Diana Martinez
Tile Art: Nick Rogacki

Peak Travel is a production of WHYY, distributed by PRX, and part of the NPR podcast network.

TARIRO MZEZEWA, HOST: Last winter, I stumbled on a review in Cosmopolitan titled, “Please, I’m Begging You, Book a Glamping Trip to Ulum Moab in Utah.”

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It was all about the magic of a luxury resort created by Under Canvas, a company that offers lavish glamping experiences near national parks.

Over the next few months, I couldn’t escape Ulum or Under Canvas. They were featured in the New York Times, Travel and Leisure, Time, Vogue and Conde Nast Traveler. And let’s not forget the TikTok videos and Instagram Reels that seemed to be all over my feed.

[SOUND OF MONTAGE OF VIDEOS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA]

VIDEO 1: Spend the day with us at Ulum’s newest luxury resort in Moab, Utah.

VIDEO 2: OK so if you love the outdoors but you hate peeing in the bushes when you’re camping, you’re going to need Under Canvas in your life.

VIDEO 3: Get ready with me at Under Canvas. Look how pretty. This is our tent. It’s like full-on glamping mode.

TM: All the content of the great outdoors looked so beautiful and fun it made me — a person who views any version of camping as torture — want to buy hiking boots and head out West.

The name of the destination sounded familiar, so I searched my inbox. and there I found a pitch for Ulum and Under Canvas. As a travel journalist, I get invitations to check out beautiful hotels, usually before they open, all the time. I know, tough gig.

In the industry, we call these press trips. And I had a feeling I knew who was behind making this seemingly random place viral.

ARIANA SQUILLACIOTTI: I’m Ariana, and you also have my better half on the line, Francesca. [Laughter] We are two Aussies living in New York City.

FRANCESCA SQUILLACIOTTI: I did follow my big sister’s lead and moved to New York.

TM: Ariana and Francesca Squillaciotti work in travel PR. They’ve helped make a lot of destinations popular. Last year, they started their own company, Bond Global.

AS: Francesca and I’ve worked with hotels across sort of every pocket of the world, you know, from Kangaroo Island in Australia to the British Virgin Islands to Punta Mita, Mexico.

TM: From WHYY, this is Peak Travel. I’m Tariro Mzezewa.

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In every episode of this show, we look at the effects of tourism on people who live in tourist spots. But this episode’s a little different. We’re going to walk you through — step by step — how a place becomes a viral destination. We’ll talk about the industry driving the masses to a location.

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There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that makes it feel like everyone is flocking somewhere.

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Usually, the process starts with a city’s tourism board, a hotel, or a restaurant deciding that they want to get more people to visit. Maybe the town is struggling and bringing in tourism is part of their economic development strategy. Or maybe a hotel just finished up a big renovation. So they hire a PR firm to help get the word out. That’s when people like Ariana and Francesca come into the picture.

FS: We are tasked with creating these road maps, you know, alongside the director of marketing, the general managers, whoever it is, kind of these key stakeholders, and thinking, you know, “What are the stories that we want to tell, and how can we position ourselves as a really unique destination or hotel or experience?”

TM: These days, more local economies rely on tourism, so smart PR campaigns are effective at bringing people in. With more options than ever for where to visit, destinations need to do even more to get your attention and convince you to come to their place. They want to, quote-unquote, “be on the map.”

AS: This is really interesting because when we talk about being on the map, you know, we’re naturally thinking about where the masses go or if it’s popular enough to entice American travelers.

TM: Francesca said places are basically trying to prove that they can give you — and everyone else — the most unique experience.

FS: We’re in this kind of world where we want to do what everybody else is doing, but we also don’t want to see anybody, and we want to be the kind of only, quote-unquote, “locals” there that aren’t really locals.

TM: Once the finely tuned strategy is set by the PR folks and the property, they then turn to people who can effectively tell a story of the place. Sometimes they’re journalists and other times just people you see online every day.

[SOUND OF MONTAGE OF VIDEOS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA]

VIDEO 1: Welcome to the life of a fancy-pants travel journalist. I’m in Mallorca at Sir Richard Branson’s brand new beautiful resort.
VIDEO 2: Would you fork out $3,060 for a night at this luxury Kangaroo Island lodge? Well, hopefully you’ll be getting your money’s worth as guests enjoy private decks, an eco-smart fireplace, and sink-in bathtub
TM: They’re influencers and they share the most beautiful photos and the most fun videos that make you really want to be there. Wherever there is.

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The thing is, influencers often travel for free. They might also get paid for the content they make. This is because it’s their job to sell a destination. Even a few posts can go a long way.
AS: It’s not necessarily getting a rolodex of, you know, of insane coverage that goes, you know, 10, 20 articles a month. But these key really strategic placements that, you know, put something on the map, but in a really tasteful way.
TM: For Ariana and Francesca, this strategy has worked time and time again. With their clients in Spain, St. Lucia, Australia, Mexico, and more. Places start popping up in magazines, newsletters, and newspapers. Ariana said they know their strategy is working when a destination appears in certain magazines.
AS:I always said, “If it’s on Air Mail, it’s happening,” because, you know, that’s that new age Vanity Fair, they’re tapping into places that are on the map, but aren’t on the map. They’re giving quirky elements to and putting a spotlight on different types of destinations where you know, you can really get an authentic experience.
TM: Francesca and Ariana said influencers and travel writers can really change a destination.
AS: They can help craft that messaging that is going to inherently shape that destination in the next long-term strategy, three, five, seven years down the pipeline.
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TM: Travel media hasn’t always been like this. In the past 10 years, media budgets were cut, and as a result, most publications couldn’t afford to send writers to cover travel. Now, journalists mostly report from their desks. And travel coverage reflects that. It went from in-depth stories about the history of a place, for example, to listicles and roundups.
On top of that, over the past 20 years, marketing has changed so much. It used to be on TV and in print, but these days, it’s mostly online. A 2023 study found that 75% of people are influenced by social media when choosing their travel destinations.
NATASHA NYANIN: My name is Natasha Nyanin. I am, I suppose I’m a writer. That’s what I tell people that I am. I have been told by friends or a friend that I am a curator of beautiful things.
TM: It’s me. I’m the friend. Natasha has the best taste in just about everything, so lots of people, myself included, turn to her for travel and style advice. On her Instagram, you can see photos and videos of her riding camels in the desert, relaxing on boats in Asia and Africa, strolling through hotels and opera houses across Europe. It’s pretty idyllic.
She’s written for Conde Nast Traveler, Fodors, CNN, and more, but says she’s hesitant to call herself an influencer.
NN: I think of an influencer as somebody whose main source of income is working with brands to promote whatever it is on social media. They get paid primarily for that. I do not get, well, I shouldn’t say I don’t get paid for Instagram. I do, but it’s rarely in the travel sense. And it’s sporadic. It’s not a sustainable source of income for me.

TM: Her photos are so striking that she has basically become synonymous with certain destinations. She recently recalled being stopped by a stranger on the street who recognized her from Instagram.

NN: She just said, you know, that she loves how I travel. And she told her husband, “I follow her, and she has these beautiful ‘jolie voyages.’” She said, like, “She does these beautiful trips”. And she said, “We’re going to Verona next year for the opera festival, and I thought of you!” And I’m like, “Well, that’s nice. Somebody thought of me in association with the Verona Festival.” So, yeah, I guess I, you know, I suppose I am an influencer, as much as I shudder to admit it.

TM: Natasha said she sometimes gets paid for those beautiful posts. Other times, a hotel just covers the cost of her trip. No matter what, for every press trip she goes on, properties and tourism boards will spell out what they expect to get in exchange for a free trip.

NN: I have worked with properties or destinations where they’ve asked for the images that we’ve taken so that they can use them for their marketing purposes or on their social media, that saves them the cost of a photographer or whatever it may be.

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TM: In other areas of journalism, the idea that a reporter’s work could be paid content for advertising is anathema. It’s Reporting 101 that you don’t accept money or gifts from sources. The thinking is that if a journalist is getting favors from someone they’re writing about, that could affect how they write about them, likely more favorably. But with travel, that line is increasingly blurry. Because of those shrinking budgets at most publications, destinations figure if they offset the cost for a writer, they have a better chance of getting coverage.

If a hotel in the Maldives just got a new renovation and wants to show it off, it might pay for a journalist to fly from New York and stay at the property. In exchange, the reporter will write about the hotel. In the industry, we all know that a lot of writers are going on trips for free, but you might not.

In the travel media world, there’s a lot of tension about all of this. Some people feel like accepting free trips is the only way to keep travel journalism alive and they promise to do so without bias. But not every publication sees it that way.

I write for The New York Times Travel section, for example, and I’m not allowed to go on free trips. That’s in an effort to avoid the appearance of any conflict. At WHYY, similar rules apply. So all those amazing press trip invitations in my inbox? I don’t go on them.
After the break: What does this mean for travelers, especially those of us who use social media to make plans?
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Welcome back to Peak Travel. I’m Tariro Mzezewa
So if all those machinations are happening behind your feed, what do they actually mean for regular people just trying to figure out where they want to go?
NICOLE DAHMEN: Mass media and social media greatly contribute to our perceptions of reality, right?

TM: That’s Nicole Dahmen. She’s a professor of media literacy and journalism at the University of Oregon.

ND: They play a large part in creating these images and creating narratives and creating expectations of aspects of our world, especially those to which we have not yet had direct experience. And we often see, especially in social media and on travel influencer posts, this idealized experience.

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TM: She teaches a course about Instagram and how it affects the way we travel. She says that we sometimes forget that what we see on social media isn’t always reality. She gave a classic example.
ND: If you look at images of the Eiffel Tower on Instagram, for the most part, the weather is perfect.
[SOUND OF BIRDS CHIRPING]
There’s no crowds and there’s a couple dancing romantically as the sun is setting.
[SOUND OF INDISTINCT CHATTER, CHILDREN SCREAMING]
But the reality is, you get to the Eiffel Tower and it’s extremely crowded. It’s hot. There’s tight security. Toddlers are screaming. And it really becomes this sort of tourist experience that is radically different than what we see on social media.
TM: It’s also hard to know the difference between a post from someone who went on a free trip, and is effectively sharing an ad, and a post by someone who paid for it themselves. It doesn’t help that the rules about posting an ad differ from platform to platform.
ND: But we have to remember that, especially when it comes to something like Instagram or influencer images, those posts, images, stories are purposely designed to create a positive impression in the audience.
TM: Ambiguity around whether someone is an influencer can be good for brands in the IG era, because they want everything to feel like one big authentic experience. But it’s not always good or fair to travelers, who get stuck trying to navigate a sea of confusing content.

It’s better for tourism boards and hotels if you don’t feel like someone is selling you something. That’s where all those fun Reels and TikToks from travel influencers play a big part. Take Christen Puckett and Jordan Carlyle.
JORDAN CARLYLE: I’m sorry I lost my voice at the ‘Bama-Georgia game this weekend. I normally don’t sound like this.
TM: That’s Jordy. She and Christen have been traveling for ages, and in early 2023, they started their Instagram account, “Where to Next Y’all.” They have nearly 60,000 followers there, and 30,000 on TikTok.
JC: We’re two blonds from the States, you know? That’s what it is.
TM: When Jordy and Christen pitch PR people, they always mention that their audience is 90% women and 90% American.

JC: Those are two demographics that people I think really want to hit, especially if they haven’t really had that tourism before. We always look for safety and fun, you know, at the end of the day. But I think for these small businesses, having that exposure to our specific market is probably one of their biggest pieces.

TM: Jordy and Christen have been on paid trips to Switzerland, Brazil, England, Thailand, Singapore, I could keep going. Last summer, a tour operator in Greece invited them and their friends to go island hopping.

CHRISTEN PUCKETT: They were like, “Hey, we saw your Reels,” because we had actually been there the previous summer. “Love your content. Would you be interested in talking with us about a sponsored trip to Greece? And you all can bring your friends and invite your follower base.”

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TM: The trip was technically free, but they had to create videos of the experience. They told their followers that they were invited on the trip, but their content isn’t marked as an ad or partnership, and it doesn’t have to be.

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VIDEO 1: We just had the 12 best days ever Greek island hopping with Life is a Beach Party. They took us to Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Ios.

VIDEO 2: If you’re coming to Greece, you must come to this secret hidden spot that no one knows about.

VIDEO 3: This is our fourth time in Greece and here are our favorite three islands.

VIDEO 4: If you’re planning on visiting Mykonos, don’t do it.

TM: They posted videos jumping into the Greek waters from boats and cliffs, and walking through stunning hotels. My personal favorite is a drone video of them laying poolside with palm trees and the sea behind them as “Mamma Mia” plays.

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I asked them what they do if they have a bad experience. Do they have to post positively because they have a job to do? They said they do have to post, but they’re always honest with their followers.

While visiting the Amazon last year, they saw crocodiles, enormous spiders, and just really struggled with the heat. It wasn’t exactly the best trip.
CP: We told our followers, we were transparent and we said, “Look, the Amazon rainforest is a beast. If you come here, you better be ready.” And that’s how we put it, because we were like, “We’re not going to lie.”
[SOUND OF MONTAGE OF VIDEOS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA]
VIDEO 1: Help, Lord. I know you’re testing us, Lord, but please baby Jesus just let us survive in the Amazon.

VIDEO 2: Alright people, we are out of power in the Amazon rainforest.

VIDEO 3: I’m checking all of the floorboards to make sure that there’s no tarantulas.

VIDEO 4: Oh my god! [Laughter]

TM: It’s true. They weren’t glowing in their posts, but I also think in a situation where they were being paid to be there, it’s unlikely they would have ever been critical of their hosts. This can lead to a pretty confusing environment for travelers. How can we know what’s real? Last summer, Christen and Jordy went on a paid trip, and said it felt like everyone else in the hotel was also an influencer.

CP: So the drone pilot was capturing the hotel, and the ins and outs of the lobby in the hotel rooms, because that’s his brand. And then you have the lifestyle blogger who’s capturing the spa and healthy food that they have at the property, right? Then you have the food blogger who gets to go to all the VIP experiences in that hotel, and they’re giving her all of this unique food that’s actually personally made by the chef.

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TM: So the next time you see everyone in Porto or the Italian island Ariana and Francesca call the “Capri of Rome” — which is already in Air Mail, by the way — think about how the sausage gets made.

The advent of influencers might be hurting traditional media, but it has helped democratize travel. All kinds of travelers have found community and direction on social media, so I can’t hate on that. But there’s a downside: when ads masquerade as posts from regular people, it can misinform travelers — and lead to overtourism, which we’ve covered in places like Mexico City and Barcelona.

Even I get most of my travel inspiration from social media. If someone I trust raves about a place, it piques my interest. A post might say outright that it’s a “partnership” or “sponsored,” but a lot of times it won’t. So I check out their page, to see if they’re usually off somewhere glamorous — a good sign that they do this for work — or if they post like a regular person, who has to finance their own life. Nicole, the professor of media literacy, has it right: We should approach all the travel content we encounter with a discerning eye.

Coming up on Peak Travel…

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TM: We visit Petra in Jordan, where for centuries the Bdoul people lived in the city’s famous caves.

ABU SULEIMAN [TRANSLATED FROM ARABIC]: I love to live in a cave sitting around a fire. And I love — I always love hearing the sounds of the wild. Hyenas, tigers, coyotes. I would rather hear that than the noise of a system or machines.

TM: But in the 1980s, the government removed the tribe in the name of preserving the ancient city for tourists.

DALAL SALMEH [TRANSLATED FROM ARABIC]: What did you take from these people? You took an open horizon and confined them into small concrete boxes.

TM: But is a site without its people really being preserved?

REEM KIWAN [TRANSLATED FROM ARABIC]: Because heritage isn’t just about preserving the past. It’s about sustaining a future for the people in it.

TM: That’s next time, on Peak Travel.

[THEME MUSIC]

This is Peak Travel. I’m your host, Tariro Mzezewa.

Our executive producer is Tom Grahsler.

Our senior producer is Michael Olcott. Our producer is Michaela Winberg, and our associate producer is Bibiana Correa.

Our editor is Meg Driscoll. Original music by Catherine Anderson. Mixing and sound design by Emma Munger. Engineering by Al Banks, Charlie Kaier, and Diana Martinez. Our tile art was created by Nick Rogacki.

Peak Travel is a production of WHYY, distributed by PRX, and part of the NPR podcast network. Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, the iHeart Radio app — or wherever you get your podcasts.