‘The White Lotus’ Effect Is Real: Binge TV Is Substantially Impacting Travel Plans, According To A New Report

It would be an understatement to say that The White Lotus‘s second season continues to inspire decadent dreams of jetting off to Taormina, Sicily. Heck, even the Aperol Spritz (with Prosecco in it) has soared in popularity over the past handful of months. Additionally, the villa rented by Daphne and Harper is available as an Airbnb (although I do not want to see those cleaning fees), and in short, everyone wants to be miserable in luxury and to paste on happy smiles for social media.

Alright, so that last sentence might be a little too much, but according to the American Express Global Travel Trends Report, the trend is palpable. A majority (64%) of their survey respondents declared that, yes, they have found inspiration to book a particular destination “after seeing it featured on a TV show, news source, or movie,” and naturally, nearly half (48%) declared that they “want to travel somewhere they can show off on social media.”

Of course, one can also expect massive crowds while following TV-inspired trends, so perhaps it’s best to save The White Lotus focus for a few years? Or at least, wait until people are flocking to Tokyo (to join those who are belatedly inspired by Lost In Translation and many other TV shows and movies) after The White Lotus Season 3. Whatever the timing, expect the effect to be real when it comes to impacting hotel prices. Yikes.

(Via American Express via IndieWire)

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