By Shahzaib S QURESHI
How Social Media Is Impacting National Park Visitation.jpeg)
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According to the research Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), a leading research university, that the Social media certainly has its drawbacks, particularly when it comes to the ways in which it has shaped the consumer travel experience.
In addition to social media influencers projecting an image of travel that's often overly polished and highly glamorized, the rise of social media has driven record levels of travelers to destinations around the world.
From an economic standpoint, that can have benefits, but the rise of overcrowding has proven to be problematic. From Venice, Italy to Japan and beyond, destination leaders have been busy announcing restrictions designed to help cope with overtourism.
The study, conducted by Georgia Tech’s School of Economics, bills itself as “the first to tie high levels of social media exposure to increased visitors" at U.S. National Parks.
In particular, the study says the surge in visitation has led to both ecological damage and economic benefits for the country's national parks — which is of course, the conundrum faced globally.
When it comes to the U.S. Parks in particular, the study finds:
A 25 percent increase in park visits correlated with viral social media posts
Ecological impacts such as trail erosion and wildlife disturbances
Economic benefits, including a 15 percent rise in local tourism revenue
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How Social Media Is Impacting National Park Visitation
Image: The rise of social media is impacting visitation to national parks in the United States (Photo Credit: Courtesy AdobeStock)
Image: The rise of social media is impacting visitation to national parks in the United States (Photo Credit: Courtesy AdobeStock)
Mia Taylor
by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 7:35 PM ET, Wed May 22, 2024
Social media certainly has its drawbacks, particularly when it comes to the ways in which it has shaped the consumer travel experience.
In addition to social media influencers projecting an image of travel that's often overly polished and highly glamorized, the rise of social media has driven record levels of travelers to destinations around the world.
From an economic standpoint, that can have benefits, but the rise of overcrowding has proven to be problematic. From Venice, Italy to Japan and beyond, destination leaders have been busy announcing restrictions designed to help cope with overtourism.
Enter a newly released study from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), a leading research university.
The study, conducted by Georgia Tech’s School of Economics, bills itself as “the first to tie high levels of social media exposure to increased visitors" at U.S. National Parks.
Traveler with a phone taking a picture of a mountain
Traveler taking a picture with a phone. (Photo Credit: Courtesy AdobeStock)
In particular, the study says the surge in visitation has led to both ecological damage and economic benefits for the country's national parks — which is of course, the conundrum faced globally.
When it comes to the U.S. Parks in particular, the study finds:
A 25 percent increase in park visits correlated with viral social media posts
Ecological impacts such as trail erosion and wildlife disturbances
Economic benefits, including a 15 percent rise in local tourism revenue
"There's been a general idea that social media exposure matters for visitation, but this research shows that it matters to a very strong degree," said Casey Wichman, an associate professor of economics and the author of the study, published in April in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "It's one of the main drivers of the huge increase in visitation to national parks."
National parks with high social media exposure saw anywhere from a 16 percent to a 22 percent increase in visitors compared to national park locations that received less attention on social media, according to the study.
The social media-related growth can be traced back to 2013 when Instagram and Twitter started to gain popularity.
And it’s not just the parks that are household names that were impacted by the arrival of social media.
“While well-known parks such as Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone saw big jumps tied to social media exposure, smaller, less well-known properties also saw significant jumps,” says the report.
For example, the number of travelers to the far less well-known Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Alaska increased by more than 180 percent.
The report also found that the biggest increases on a percentage basis took place in the Western United States, particularly in Alaska, the Rocky Mountain region, and Utah.
How exactly though did Wichman measure the correlation between social media exposure and national park visitation levels?
He used five different measurements to create an index of social media exposure. They included:
Instagram followers
Instagram mentions
Twitter followers
Twitter mentions
Total number of likes and retweets on Twitter