Journey to nightmare: You should avoid these destinations as much as possible!

Journey to nightmare: You should avoid these destinations as much as possible!

Travel season is just around the corner, but a trend on social media is raising questions about willingness to travel: TikTok travel warnings recommend staying home. A comment from a local in St. Pölten describes the city as not very attractive. The influencer Kilian Kroh has published various travel warnings on TikTok, which have a strong impact on numerous users.

Opinions about popular travel destinations are negative. Users report, for example, Jesolo, whose beach is described as “ugly” and the sea as smelly. Rimini has left a traumatized user, while Bibione has a negative impact due to expensive food and many Austrian and German tourists. Paris is also criticized as being “run down to the power of 10” and having a rat problem. In Lisbon, high hills make for strenuous walking, while Gran Canaria is perceived as dry and brown. Weather and geography are also an issue in Madeira, where daily rain and narrow streets spoil the fun. Users also express stomach problems because of the Bulgarian cuisine and report unfriendly people and bad food on Rhodes. A particularly drastic report comes from Australia, where a user was injured by a kangaroo and had to go to the emergency room.

The flood of social media and its risks

In parallel to these travel warnings, the number of influencers who undertake dangerous journeys for clicks and likes is increasing dramatically. One example is YouTuber Mykhailo Polyakov, who traveled to the forbidden Indian island of North Sentinel to contact an isolated tribe. He left a can of Coke as a “gift,” which human rights organizations such as Survival International criticized as inconsiderate. Caroline Pearce said that Polyakov was potentially endangering the lives of the tribe.

Joshua Allgeier, a German travel blogger, also found himself in a dangerous situation in Nigeria when a gang tried to kidnap him. In addition to Allgeier, Marinus Obermair is another German influencer who hikes through the Darién Gap in Central America without any money. This region is considered extremely dangerous.

Adventure or staging?

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs strongly advises against traveling to Nigeria and North Korea, where many influencers also generate content. Some European influencers took part in the Pyongyang marathon, highlighting the risks of such trips. Victoria's Rose Waldrip even staged a dangerous situation in Nigeria to get attention, while Addison Pierre Maalouf was kidnapped during an interview with a gang leader in Haiti. The influencer Ben Frier also experienced an exceptional situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power.

The influence of extreme content in today's flood of content is highlighted by Sarah Schmid from the Kingfluencer agency. She explains that such content generates more attention, but warns that many of these adventures are well-staged or manipulated and security measures are often hidden. Given the multitude of negative experiences and dangerous adventures, many users seem to come to the final conclusion: it would be better to leave the suitcases at home.

The press reports about the current discussions about willingness to travel, during 20 minutes The risks and trends in influencer travel are discussed.