In today’s hyper-digital world, we consume content at a considerable clip, and that content influences our conversations, our thoughts, what we buy and what we book.
Over the last decade, the travel industry has seen the impact of pop culture as a motivator for consumer purchasing decisions. Most recently, “The White Lotus” HBO Original television series, which filmed in Maui, Sicily and Thailand across its three seasons, fueled incredible travel demand for those destinations.
But it’s not just “The White Lotus” that’s sticking in the minds of travelers. According to a recent study by data and marketing firm Data Axle, 73% of Gen Z and millennial travelers are enticed to visit destinations highlighted in hit television shows and films. The report also found that 66% of Gen Z travelers rely on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram for destination inspiration.
So, beyond “The White Lotus,” what are the pop culture references influencing travelers? Here are a few that continue to hold steam.
Korean dramas and Korean pop music have driven up visitation numbers to South Korea.
Credit: 2025 sky view/stock.adobe.comKorean Pop Music and Korean Dramas
Korean pop band BTS vividly demonstrates the economic power of music; the group debuted in 2013, has since amassed millions of fans around the world and is estimated to have generated nearly 42 trillion South Korean won (about $30 billion) for the Korean economy in the last decade. The group’s popularity has increased interest in travel to South Korea, drawing in hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists per year. K-pop bands such as Blackpink, Stray Kids and New Jeans have similarly giant fanbases around the world.
But, back to BTS. Fans of the band — also known as “Army” — are surely among the travelers booking BTS-inspired tours in Korea, which highlight everything from music video shoot locations to the restaurants that BTS members have frequented (and shared on social media). A themed walking tour of Seoul by GetYourGuide shows off the capital city “through the eyes of the boys,” and Visit Seoul offers a top 10 list inspired by the band. Tour operator The Dragon Trip even offers a nine-day K-pop tour, too.
In 2026, when all BTS members will have completed their compulsory time in the Korean military, the band is expected to head out on another worldwide tour — and the epic, multi-month event is bound to influence Army members both old and new.
Also boosting interest in Korean culture and travel to the country is the Korean drama, a beloved genre of television that debuted on Netflix in 2016. According to the streamer, more than 60% of users have watched at least one K-drama — personally, I started with “Queen of Tears,” “Start-Up,” “Business Proposal,” “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” and “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.” Once again, tours inspired by K-dramas have cropped up in response to more interest. And this is a global phenomenon; recent data shows that Korean drama films are the most popular non-U.S. content in the world.
Television shows on Netflix often garner millions of views, and many travelers say they’re enticed to visit the destinations highlighted in what they watch.
Credit: 2025 wutzkoh/stock.adobe.com“Emily in Paris,” and Other Netflix Hits
The lighthearted television rom com “Emily in Paris” debuted on Netflix in October of 2020; throughout the first four seasons of the show, the titular character bounces around the boulangeries, gardens and Seine-adjacent sites of Paris wearing bold (if sometimes nonsensical) outfits and a winning grin. Viewer numbers have been gangbusters since the beginning. In 2020, 58 million households worldwide watched the show; in 2022, it was the most-watched show on Netflix; and the debut of the fourth season amassed 19.9 million views in four days and 45.1 views in four weeks. Unsurprisingly, GetYourGuide has a related walking tour.
One study found that four out of five tourists to Paris were inspired by a television show (like “Emily in Paris”) or a film that was shot in the City of Light. The fifth season of the series is set to move to Rome, so time will tell how the “Emily in Paris” effect transfers to Italy.
Hit Netflix show “Bridgerton” is inspiring trips to England, including to the town of Bath, where many scenes have been filmed.
Credit: 2025 valdisskudre/stock.adobe.comSet in early 1800s London, “Bridgerton” is another remarkable Netflix show with sky-high viewership. In the first half of last year, series episodes got more than 45.05 million views. It is currently ranked on Netflix’s Top 10 Most Popular Shows of All Time list, too. Filmed mostly in the town of Bath, and in various country estates in England, the show’s popularity has inspired tour-stop lists of all sorts, including ones from Visit Britain and Visit Bath. It has been estimated that Bridgerton-inspired travel to England has boosted the economy there by 275 million pounds. Season four of the show is slated for a 2026 debut.
Reality Television
How to describe reality television? (Supposedly) unscripted and (seemingly) unpredictable, the genre entertains audiences of all kinds. You can watch for the drama (think: “Real Housewives,” “Love Island” and “Love is Blind”), the competition (“Big Brother,” “The Amazing Race,” “Survivor” and “Project Runway”) and for travel inspiration. Surely, the late, great Anthony Bourdain gets credit for sparking the fire of the latter subgenre, guiding fellow wanderlust-afflicted humans around the world in the 12-season “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” documentary series and the nine-season “No Reservations.”
Currently, “The Traitors," a sort of who-done-it murder mystery competition show airing on streaming service Peacock, has inspired travel to Scotland (it’s filmed in and around Ardross Castle). Lately, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed “The Reluctant Traveler,” starring Eugene Levy of “Schitt’s Creek” — watching a comically uncomfortable Levy ease into the luxury of Amangiri Resort in Utah and go ice fishing in Finland is quite entertaining — and I’ll never tire of witnessing the low-key chaos Conan O’Brien stirs up when doing comedy on the streets of a foreign country (see “Conan O’Brien Must Go”).
There’s also the subgenre of food travel show. A few episodes of “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” will have you pining for an Italian vacation (plus pesto and lobster and spaghetti). Though the show was canceled after just two seasons, Tucci partnered up with National Geographic and the BBC for a new version, “Tucci in Italy,” which is now streaming on Nat Geo TV.
Perhaps the “realness” of reality television makes it even more influential, as the place or experience we see on our screens feels within our reach and replicable. Case in point: Clients might walk in Tucci’s footsteps via Cesarine, a network of homecooks in Italy, which is offering market visits and cooking classes that mirror the actor’s adventures on his new show. Examples include a carbonara class in Rome or a handmade pasta experience in Siena.
A growing number of travelers are booking trips around major music tours.
Credit: 2025 pongsakorn_jun26/stock.adobe.comPop-Star Power, From Taylor Swift and Beyonce to Billie Eilish and Bad Bunny
Like the aforementioned BTS, American music titan Taylor Swift has proven that she has the star power to move mountains — or masses of fans, who will travel across the world in order to see her perform.
But Taylor isn’t the only musician pumping dollars into local economies and luring travelers out of their hometowns for concerts — there’s also Beyonce (who’s currently in the midst of the Cowboy Carter tour), Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, SZA and more. Event travel (or concert travel, or “gig-tripping”) is on the rise, and, according to new data, it is estimated that music tourism could be valued at $268 billion globally by 2030, up significantly from $97 billion in 2024.
So, who stands to influence travel with their musical talent in 2025? Both Beyonce and Billie Eilish are on tour now, through July. Coldplay is set to perform in North America, Asia, Europe and New Zealand this year. Kendrick Lamar and SZA have another month on the road for the Grand National Tour. Pop star Sabrina Carpenter will regale London audiences in July before performing in the U.S. this fall, while Lady Gaga's tour schedule will bring her to Stockholm, Barcelona, Paris, Melbourne and beyond this year. And Latin star Bad Bunny has a residency in Puerto Rico from July 11 to September 14 — stand-alone concert tickets are sold out, but fans might still catch a show by booking VIP travel packages.
A large number of travelers report that are inspired to book trips based on what they see on social media.
Credit: 2025 Nii Koo Nyan/stock.adobe.comTravel Recs Via TikTok and Instagram
Travel industry players cannot underestimate the strength of social media platforms TikTok and Instagram, both of which have more than 2 billion active users — and those users are increasingly looking at content in their feeds for travel inspiration.
A 2023 survey found that, of 150 million U.S. users (at the time), 60% reported being inspired to visit a destination after seeing it on TikTok. Content creators use hashtags such as #TikTokTravel and #TravelTikTok to get their stories in front of users, and it seems to be working. Travel advisors are using social media to generate leads, and influencers have increasing sway, too. In a recent study from Expedia Group, 73% of respondents said recommendations made by influencers have helped them determine what and where to book travel. Of those travelers under the age of 40, 83% say that influencers’ postings have impacted their booking decisions.
The capybara is so beloved that capybara cafes are a thing in Japan.
Credit: 2025 Henner Damke/stock.adobe.comThe Cuteness of the Capybara
As a parent of a tween, I’ve watched numerous animal-related trends rise, peak and fade over the last decade (we’ve been to alpaca farms with friends, and cat cafes for birthday celebrations). On TikTok, comical videos of household pets garner thousands, and sometimes millions, of views. But what animals are inspiring travel now?
Lately, it’s the capybara — an oversized, semi-aquatic rodent (they hover around 100 pounds when fully grown) that’s cute to many and unappealing to some. American writer Gary Shteyngart was so fascinated with the creatures that he flew to South America to research them (an essay for The New Yorker followed). Though native to Central and South America, capybaras have become a (visitable) sensation in Florida (check out Jungle Island’s Capybara Encounter) and across Japan.
In the latter destination, the mild-mannered capybara went from zoo animal to cafe culture pretty swiftly. In Tokyo, travelers can sip lattes while petting the creatures at Cafe Capyba. To hang with capys and cats together, there’s Capy Neko Cafe, also in Tokyo. Further afield, Aso Farm Land in Kyushu is a theme park with a zoo-like component that includes capybaras.
