I was trying to enjoy a game drive a few weeks back, but there was one thing getting in the way.

The American influencer behind me just couldn’t get the right shot.

The poor people trapped with her in the back row of the off-road vehicle were being jostled around while she explained to them that she needed a picture of the zebra, but this one had to have her face in it, because that’s what her followers want.

She was saved from a brutal description of where she could shove her followers by some pretty spectacular giraffes, which distracted me and one or two fellow travellers from our irritation.

If you’ve been noticing a certain level of hostility aimed at influencers lately, it might have something to do with the fact that the industry is coming under increased scrutiny, and many in the travel and tourism business are losing patience.

CNN tells the story of Amy Seder, a travel influencer who is usually able to use Instagram and her army of followers to score free accommodation when she travels. Then this happened:

When she recently contacted one hotel in Italy hoping for a free stay in exchange for social media exposure, she was bluntly rejected.

“Blogger infestation. Not interested,” came the curt response.

So-called travel influencers such as Seder make a living by sharing their globetrotting experiences on social media and personal blogs. They get freebies, discounts or payments for promoting places, products and experiences via their accounts.

Over the past few years, influencers have exploded onto the scene, with some carving legitimate careers out of managing their social media accounts.

But it’s a trend that, as Seder found, may now have reached saturation point with some hotels and other travel industry organisations growing weary of the demands placed on them by influencers and becoming increasingly doubtful of the commercial benefits.

Part of the decline in support from the travel industry (and other industries, like this ice cream shop) has a lot to do with a string of news reports that expose the entitled, inappropriate, and often staged behaviour that we’ve come to associate with ‘influencer culture’.

For example:

• Influencers taking sexy bikini shots in Chernobyl;
• Influencers faking accidents;
• Influencers faking experiences;
• And, influencers swimming in contaminated water and then encouraging others to do the same.

We would also add these ‘thoughts and prayers’ for Bermuda posts, while we’re at it.

I could go on (and on) but let’s get back to CNN:

Gianluca Casaccia, a beach club owner in the Philippines, took to Facebook in April to tear into “freeloaders” he said were plaguing his establishment with requests for gratis food, drinks and accommodation.

In another case, a Czech couple traveling in Bali drew ire after apparently splashing themselves with holy water at a temple and posting images of it to an Instagram account with tens of thousands of followers.

Needless to say, these examples have shone a light on the problems under the surface of the travel industry/influencer relationship.

They also raise questions about the sustainability of the agreements between influencers and the travel industry and the lifestyles they support in a rapidly changing industry environment.

While travel blogging is a relatively young phenomenon, it has already evolved into a mature and sophisticated business model, with participants on both sides working hard to protect and promote their brands.

For some tourism outlets, bloggers and influencers provide a way to promote products that might be overlooked by more conventional channels.

The issue here is that while some people do engage in a level of professionalism when conducting their business, others don’t.

Tourism reps, meanwhile, recount dealing with tantrums when demands weren’t met.

“One of our executives had an encounter with an influencer who said he ‘doesn’t f——- pay for anything, ever’ after she informed him that some of his meals weren’t going to be covered,” says Grenada Tourism Authority’s Corion.

Many luxury properties in the Maldives have terminated their influencer marketing programs after getting countless requests from fraudulent influencers.

For well-intentioned influencers such as Emilie Ristevski, who has over one million followers on Instagram, the rise in irresponsible “influencers” is frustrating.

Sigh.

Hell really is other people.

Good luck to the travel influencers out there who put a bit of effort into their work.

As for the rest, I’m sure I’m not the only one who won’t mourn the industry if it dies out.

UPDATE: For those who are interested, Amy Seder has responded to the CNN interview:

Unfortunately this CNN article took what I said out of context, and used a few choice words from my many answered questions to push a narrative.

She has linked to a blog post, titled “The good, the bad, and the truth behind being interviewed as a blogger”, which details her response.

[source:cnn]