Instagram Has Ruined Travel & It's A Huge Problem Now That Protected Ecosystems Are Threatened

In the nine years since its launch, one fact stands strong: Instagram has changed the way we travel. Stunning destinations, cheap flights and the rise of budget-friendly hotels have opened up the world to millennials, and in a way our parents could only dream of.

Earlier, we would flick through travel magazines or brochures to discover new places or search endlessly online for deals that would suit the pocket.

Now, thanks to the geo-tagging feature on social media, we know the physical location of every cool restaurant, beautiful hotel property and aesthetically-pleasing tourist spot with just one tap.

According to a survey by Expedia, 30 per cent of the bookings made on the portal are influenced or inspired by social media and a destination¡¯s photo potential is an important aspect of that.

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However, saying Instagram is also ruining travel for some us, won't exactly be untrue.

Once a nice place gets discovered by social media influencers, celebrities or just plain ol' regular folk like most of us, all the photos, each with a detailed caption of its own, lands up on Instagram. And over time, that corner of the world is transformed in to a tourist destination.

Overrun by tourists the place either gets ruined forever or is shut down to prevent further damage.

If you think this cycle is short, think again. All you need for a protected site to be ruined is one trending hashtag.

For instance, when Justin Bieber shot his music video 'I¡¯ll Show You' in 2015 in Iceland¡¯s Fja?r¨¢rglj¨²fur canyon, it¡¯s fair to assume that he didn¡¯t intend to accelerate the beautiful location¡¯s demise. But the canyon, which is east of Reykjavik, is now closing due to an unmanageable amount of foot traffic from increased visitors.

While the location was a known attraction in its own right circa pre-Bieber, the head of the country¡¯s environment agency said that the rush of international visitors grew from 50% to 80% between 2016 and 2018.

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Conservationists are now worried that photographers or average social media users who geotag precise locations especially in some parts of Africa, are putting some of the wildlife and ecosystems at risk.

As a result, visitors are encouraged to not use geotagging.

This is a quintessentially 21st century photo pic.twitter.com/rXvB12xMm6

¡ª the musk stick appreciator (@flashman) 5 May 2014

In November 2018, the Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board in their annual campaign encouraged visitors to tag responsibly using a geotag for the region rather than specific locations within the park. It was an attempt to reduce overtourism.

The campaign indicated that the landscape was under threat from visitors drawn by the beautiful vistas showcased on Instagram. Down under in Australia, a national park had to install a five-foot fence in its natural premises to prevent visitors from climbing on rocks in their attempt to take an insta worthy shot.

The Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board

What is fuelling our obsession to capture insta-worthy shots and blast them to our followers? The answer is fairly simple.

Sharing travel photos is okay but sharing the same photos on Instagram acquires a whole new meaning, and that's NOT okay.

Average social media users are feeling the pressure to visit the hottest destinations that their favorite influencers and celebrities have visited and replicate the same aesthetically pleasing pictures in return for validation in the form of likes and followers. For most millennial travelers, the quest for the most insta-worthy shot ranks higher than exploring the city they are visiting.

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Traditionally, travel was about curiosity, the need to get away, a way to come back home feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, and most importantly, an exploration of the self.

Now, travel has been reduced to fitting in and imitating what everyone else is doing.

In this age of 'if it's not on Instagram, did it even happen?' what concerns me the most is that if you go for a vacation and choose not to put pictures online, your friends or family might not believe that you went at all.

When a small Canadian seed farm in Ontario invited visitors to come visit its sunflower fields last summer, the result was a bombarding of 7,000 visitors seeking the perfect Instagram shot before a backdrop of gorgeous yellow flowers. This resulted in a man-made disaster for the farm and its immediate surroundings.

Just eight days after inviting visitors, the farm authorities asked people to leave, and take their selfie sticks with them. ¡°We are farmers,¡± the farmer told The New York Times. ¡°We don¡¯t want to be famous.¡±

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It really doesn¡¯t need to be this way, though. We can visit these wonders of the world, take photos without causing damage or disrespect. Before blindly taking photos, it¡¯s important to educate yourself about local cultures, traditions and customs. If you are unsure about what to wear, ask. If you are unsure about capturing something, ask again. Always travel with one awareness: no selfie or picture is worthy of compromising the natural environment.

Also while you are there, please don¡¯t miss out on taking the view in because you can¡¯t enjoy the moment staring at a picture on your phone.